550 Tons of Illicit Drugs Seized in Iran in 9 Months: Official


550 Tons of Illicit Drugs Seized in Iran in 9 Months: Official

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The deputy head of Iran’s Anti-Drug Headquarters announced that about 550,000 kilograms of various types of narcotics were seized across the country in the first nine months of the current Iranian year, which started on March 20, 2016.

Over the first nine months of this year, about 550 tons of illicit drugs were seized from drug smugglers, which shows a 15 percent increase compared to the same period last year, Brigadier General Assadollah Hadinejad told reporters in the western province of Lorestan on Monday.

He added that 88 percent of the seizures were made by the law enforcement forces of the country and the remaining 12 percent by other Iranian organizations cooperating in the campaign against illicit drugs. 

The Iranian official further pointed to the measure taken by the Islamic Republic to control the common border with Afghanistan and said almost the entire border is physically blocked with obstacles.

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 35 years.

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