Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran’s police seized over 1.3 tons of opium from smugglers in two operations in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
The police forces seized 1011 kilograms of opium from a drug-trafficking group in an armed clash last night, the police commander of Sistan and Baluchestan province, Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari said, Iran’s state-run IRINN TV reported Sept. 27.
The police forces also arrested six drug smugglers in the operation, he added.
The police commander further said that the security forces also dismantled another armed drug-trafficking group in the second operation, arresting four smugglers.
Police forces sized 305 kilograms of opium from the latter as well.
Iran’s police have seized over 400 tons of various drugs during the first half of the current fiscal year (March 20-Sept. 22), which indicates a rise by 11 percent year on year, according to the latest statistics of Iran Drug Control Headquarters.
The country 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.