Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 5
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran's police seized about 700 kilograms of opium from smugglers in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Police forces seized the drugs in an armed clash with smugglers in the city of Iranshahr last night, the province's police commander, Brigadier General Hossein Rahimi said Oct. 5, Fars news agency reported.
The smugglers left the drugs and fled the scene, Rahimi said, adding that efforts for arrest of the smugglers continue.
Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.
The fight against drug trafficking annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates.
The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.