Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 18
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran’s police seized over 877 kilograms of opium from smugglers in the country's south-eastern province of Kerman in the city of Jiroft.
The smugglers were trying to carry the drug cargo to central Iran, Reza Baniasadi, the province's police commander, said, the news portal of Iran’s police reported Feb. 18.
Two smugglers were arrested in a police operation, Baniasadi added.
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.