Baku, Azerbaijan, August 3
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's border police seized some 1.2 tonnes of opium in the south eastern Province of Sistan and Baluchestan, Rohambakhsh Habibi, commander of the province's border guards said.
The incident took place in the Iran-Pakistan border, when the armed smugglers were crossing the border, the commander said, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on August 3.
The smugglers left their opium loads and escaped inside Pakistan after the police operation, he added.
Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Gulf States.
The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometres of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.
It was reported that some 500 tonnes of drugs were seized in the country during the 12-month period from 21 March 2013 to 21 March 2014.
The fight against drugs annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates. The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.