1.3 Tons of Opium Seized in SE Iran


1.3 Tons of Opium Seized in SE Iran

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Intelligence Ministry forces confiscated 1,300 kilograms of opium in operations in the southeastern province of Kerman.

An official with the Kerman Province’s justice department said Tuesday that the Intelligence Ministry forces have disbanded three major drug rings in the province over the past 24 hours.

He said the drug rings used to smuggle narcotics from the eastern borders into the country with fast vehicles.

On Monday night, the intelligence forces launched three operations in Kerman and captured the ringleaders, the official noted, adding that 1,300 kilograms of opium, assault rifles and three vehicles were seized in only one of the raids.

More than 300 kilograms of drugs was confiscated in the eastern parts of Kerman in another operation on Monday, he added.

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 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.

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