Police in Central Iran Seize 7 Tons of Drugs in 20 Days
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Police forces in Iran’s central province of Yazd have confiscated more than 7,000 kilograms of illicit drugs from smugglers over the past 20 days, the province’s police chief said.
General Iraj Kakavand said a haul of opium, weighing 1,650 kilograms, was found from a truck on Friday, when the vehicle reached a police checkpoint for stop-and-frisk.
According to the commander, more than 27 tons of illicit drugs have been seized in the province over the past eight months.
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 three decades.
