Police Smash Drug Ring, Seizing 716kg of Opium in Southeast Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s anti-narcotics police forces in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan have managed to arrest two drug dealers, seizing 716 kilograms of opium from the criminals, the provincial police chief said.
Brigadier General Hossein Rahimi said on Tuesday that following extensive and round-the-clock efforts, the anti-narcotics police forces of Sistan and Balouchestan Province identified a major drug-trafficking gang, which used to transit big hauls of illicit drugs from Zahedan, the province’s capital, to other parts of the country.
He added that after weeks of intelligence activities, the police forces on Monday night traced a vehicle belonging to the drug gang in the main road from Zahedan to Bam, in the southern province of Kerman.
The commander went on to say that in a surprise operation, the forces arrested two drug traffickers and seized 716 kg of opium from them.
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.
The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades.