1.5 Tons of Narcotics Seized in Iran’s Kerman Province in 2 Days
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Deputy police chief of Iran's southeastern Kerman province on Saturday said his forces have seized large volume of narcotics in several operations during the past two days.
Colonel Abdol Reza Nazeri told the Tasnim News Agency that police forces in the province seized over 1.5 tons of illicit drugs after conducting several coordinated and swift operations in the past 48 hours.
In one of the operations carried out in Raabar city, seven drug traffickers were arrested and four cars carrying over 505 kg of narcotics were impounded, he stated.
In another operation, law enforcement forces seized 489 kg of opium in Bardesir Town and apprehended one smuggler, Nazeri stated.
He added that 244 kg of Hashish was confiscated in the provinces’ capital city of Kerman while 120 kg of opium and hashish were seized in the town of Bardaskan.
Some narcotics were also discovered and seized in police checkpoints across the province, the commander went on to say.
Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used by smugglers as the main conduit to take narcotics to other countries.
Over the past three decades, the country has spent millions of dollars to seal its borders and prevent the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.
The war on the drug trade, a lucrative business originating in Afghanistan, has also claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers.
According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Iran accounted for the highest rate of opium seizures (80 percent) as well as heroin hauls (30 percent) in the world in 2013.
