Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.28
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's border police seized some 5.23 tons of various drugs including opium, hashish, heroin and morphine during the last Iranian calendar month (Nov. 22- Dec. 21), deputy Commander of Iranian Border Police for Coordination, Brigadier General Seyyed Abbas Ataei said, IRNA news agency reported on Dec. 28.
He went on to say that, three smugglers were killed during the period.
Ataei also underlined that, some 2.5 million liters of smuggled fuel has been seized in Iran during the last month on the country's borders.
Iran is situated in a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometres of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 per cent of opium is smuggled.
According to the UNODC World Drug Report 2013, Iran accounted for the highest rate of opium seizures (80 percent) as well as heroin seizures (30 percent) in the world this year.
According to the official estimates, the fight against drugs annually costs Iran about $1 billion. The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.
It was reported that 500 tons of drugs were seized during the last solar year (ending on March 21) and over 450 tons during the first nine months of the current solar year.
Edited by C.N.