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Iranian police seize 162 tons of various narcotics

Politics Materials 4 December 2013 18:27 (UTC +04:00)
Iranian police have seized 162 tons of various narcotics during last three Iranian calendar months (August 23- November 22), director general of Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Headquarters Brigadier General Alireza Akbarshahi said, ISNA news agency reported on Dec. 4.
Iranian police seize 162 tons of various narcotics

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Umid Niayesh- Trend:

Iranian police have seized 162 tons of various narcotics during last three Iranian calendar months (August 23- November 22), director general of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Headquarters Brigadier General Alireza Akbarshahi said, ISNA news agency reported on Dec. 4.

The figure indicates an increase of 44 percent compared to the same period of last year.

He went on to note 908 smuggling groups have collapsed during the period.

Akbarshahi underlined that about 11,000 drug smugglers have been arrested during the last three Iranian calendar months(August 23- November 22), which indicates an increase of 30 percent and 54 percent compared to the preceding three months and the same period of last solar year(August 23- November 22, 2012) respectively.

During the period, some 532 operations were carried out against the smugglers around the country, Akbarshahi said, adding that the figure shows a rise of 22 percent and 114 percent compared to the previous three months and the same period of last year (August 23- November 22, 2012.) respectively.

He also underlined that some 80 percent of seized drugs have been captured at borders.

Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Gulf states. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, across which about 74 percent of opium is smuggled.

According to official estimates, the fight against drugs annually cost Iran about $1 billion. The statistics also say that there are about 2 million of drug users in Iran.

It was reported that 500 tons of drugs were seized during the last solar year and more than 215 tons during the first 5 months of the current solar year.

Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of various seized drugs as a symbol of its determination to fight against drugs.

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