Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 29
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran’s police seized over 1.5 tons of opium from smugglers in an armed clash in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
The police forces also arrested a professional drug smuggler in the operation, which took place near the city of Iranshahr, the province's police commander, Brigadier General Hossein Rahimi said Apr. 29, IRNA news agency reported.
The drug consignment, loaded in border check point, was planed to be carried to central Iran, Rahimi said.
He further explained that following a car chase and armed clash on the road, police forces arrested the smugglers, including a professional drug dealer.
More than 155 kilograms of opium was discovered in the car, he said, adding that 1,270 kilograms of opium also was sized from the house of the smuggler.
In another operation, the police seized 98 kilograms of opium in Saravan city from a depot, Rahimi said.
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.
According to the statistics, there are about two million drug users in Iran.