Baku, Azerbaijan, March 8
By Gazenfer Hamidov – Trend:
Iran’s police seized over four tons of various drugs from armed smugglers in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
The police forces seized 4,186 kilograms of opium and 73 kilograms of heroin from drug-traffickers in an armed clash, the police commander of Sistan and Baluchestan province, Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari said, the state-run IRINN TV reported March 8.
The police forces also seized an AK-47 and a colt, Ghanbari said, adding that four smugglers arrested in the operation.
Iran’s police have seized over 400 tons of various drugs during the first half of the current fiscal year (March 20-Sept. 22, 2017), which indicates a rise by 11 percent year on year, according to the statistics of Iran Drug Control Headquarters.
The country sits 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.