Baku, Azerbaijan, April 25
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's police seized about 420 kilograms of various drugs in the country's southeastern province of Kerman.
The province's Police Commander Hossein Chenarian said that the drugs including hashish and opium were seized from armed smugglers during two operations this morning, Iranian IRNA news agency reported on April 25.
The police seized 378 kilograms of hashish from a sedan car in Kanouj-Bandar Abbas road, Chenarian said, adding that the narcotics were loaded in the country's eastern borders.
The second operation lead to seizure of 40 kilograms of opium near Kahnouj city, the commander 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 tons of drugs were seized in the country during the last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 21). 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.
Edited by C.N.