Thirty Tons of Narcotics Seized in Iran’s Southern Province in 10 Months: Police Chief
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari said the illicit drugs seized in the southern province of Fars in a ten-month period ending on January 20 amounted to 30 tons.
Speaking to reporters in Shiraz, the provincial capital, on Wednesday, he said that the police forces of the province seized 30,000 kilograms of different types of narcotics in the first ten months of the current Iranian year (began on March 20, 2016).
He said some 12,000 individuals involved in drug trafficking were also identified and arrested during the said period.
Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.
Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past three decades.
The country has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.