Iranian Police Nab Int’l Drug Smuggler in North-Central Province
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian security and intelligence forces have managed to arrest an international drug trafficker in the northern province of Alborz, a local official said.
Chief Prosecutor of Alborz province Ahmad Fazelian said on Monday that the convict, who used transit networks in eastern and western Iran, was apprehended by the police forces following massive intelligence measures.
The drug lord had been on the run for smuggling up to 1,000 tons of illicit drugs, he said, adding Afghan and Pakistani elements helped him smuggle the narcotics into and out of the country.
“The individual was active in the field of drug trafficking under the cover of commercial companies registered in different countries,” the chief prosecutor said.
Fazelian went on to add that moveable and immovable properties of the criminal have been confiscated, and that an indictment has been issued against him.
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 34 years.
