Iranian Police Seize over 1.2 Tons of Opium in Southern Province
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s anti-narcotics police forces in the southern province of Bushehr have managed to seize more than 1,200 kilograms of opium in two separate operations in the province, the provincial police chief announced.
Speaking to reporters in Bushehr on Saturday, Brigadier General Khalil Vaezi highlighted his forces’ intelligence dominance over drug traffickers and said their activities are monitored on a round-the-clock basis in such a way that the province is not safe for them.
He further said that in two separate operations in the port cities of Kangan and Asalouyeh recently, a total of 1,221 kilograms of opium was sized from drug gangs and members of the gangs were arrested.
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 four decades.
