Border Police Seize over 1.2 Tons of Drugs in SE Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Border Police have confiscated 1,257 kilograms of narcotics from a depot at a border village in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan, a commander said.
Commander of Border Police in Sistan and Balouchestan Province said his forces at the Jakigour border regiment gathered intelligence on a depot of illicit drugs at a border village and found out that the smugglers had plans to transfer the narcotics into the country.
General Mohammad Mollashahi said the Border Police troops raided the depot near the border village of Dazang.
A watchman was arrested in the operation and more than 1,257 kilograms of drugs, including opium and hashish, was confiscated, he added.
The smugglers had camouflaged the depot with plants, the commander said.
Police and security forces have been quite successful in ensuring security in the province despite its long borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, harsh weather and vast desert areas.
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 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.