Iranian Police Seize over 7 Tons of Illicit Drugs in 2 Weeks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s anti-narcotics police forces have seized more than 7,000 kilograms of different types of illicit drugs in the country over the past two weeks, the deputy secretary-general of Iran Drug Control Headquarters announced on Wednesday.
“Total seizures in the mentioned period stood at 7,493 kilograms of various kinds of illicit drugs, including 6190kg of opium, 149kg of heroin, 1055kg of hashish, 24kg of crystal meth and 74kg of drug precursors,” Alireza Jazini said.
He also said that 68 drug traffickers were also arrested during the police operations, seven of them were female.
He went on to say that the biggest parts of seizures were reported in Iran's southeastern province of Kerman with 2854kg, the southern province of Fars with 940kg, and the western province of Kermanshah with 800kg.
In recent decades, Iran has been hit by drug trafficking, mainly because of its 936- kilometer shared border with Afghanistan, which produces more than 90% of the world’s opium.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Islamic Republic is netting eight times more opium and three times more heroin than all other countries in the world combined.
The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years.