Police Seize Near 800kg of Opium in Central Province
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian anti-drug police forces in the central province of Yazd have seized 786kg of opium in a single operation, a police chief announced on Monday.
“Following intelligence measures, the anti-narcotics police forces in Yazd achieved information about a large cargo of opium transferring from the country’s southern provinces to the north,” Commander of the Law Enforcement Police of Yazd Province Colonel Iraj Kakavand said.
He said police identified and stopped two vehicles carrying the illicit drugs and seized 786 kilogram of opium.
The commander added that in the operation, three drug dealer were arrested and handed over to judicial authorities.
In recent decades, Iran has been hit by drug trafficking, mainly because of its 936-kilometer shared border with Afghanistan, which produces more than 90% of the world’s opium.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Islamic Republic is netting eight times more opium and three times more heroin than all other countries in the world combined.
The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years.
