Iran’s Intelligence Forces Smash Two Int’l Drug Rings in Southern Province


Iran’s Intelligence Forces Smash Two Int’l Drug Rings in Southern Province

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian intelligence forces managed to disband two major international drug rings in the southern province of Kerman, capturing more than two tons of illicit drugs from the smugglers.

In two separate operations in the Province, the intelligence forces identified and arrested the members of the two drug rings, who had entered the country from the desert border areas in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan.

During the operations, more than two tons of opium and hashish, as well as four combat weapons, were seized from the smugglers.

Four criminals were also taken into custody and five vehicles were captured in the operations.   

In a separate operation carried out by the intelligence forces, all 11 members of a gang that had kidnapped civilians in the cities of Tehran, Varamin, Qom, and Aligudarz 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 35 years.

 

  

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