Iran Police Seize 7 Tons of Illicit Drugs in 24 Hours
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Police forces in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan have confiscated 7 tons of narcotics in two separate operations in 24 hours, the country’s police commander said Monday.
Speaking to reporters in the province’s capital city of Zahedan on Monday, Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari said his forces in the border province have confiscated around seven tons of various illicit drugs, weapons and ammunition, as well as military equipment and vehicles from smugglers in two separate operations over the past 24 hours.
Five armed traffickers have been arrested and four vehicles confiscated in the two operations, IRNA quoted the commander as saying.
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.