Iranian Police Seize over 12 Tons of Illicit Drugs in A Week
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s anti-narcotics police forces have managed to capture more than 12,000 kilograms of various kinds of illicit drugs across the country over the past week, the deputy commander of Anti-Drug Headquarters announced on Wednesday.
The total amount of seizures over the past week stood at 12,676 kg of various kinds of narcotics, showing a 25 percent increase compared to the seizures a week earlier, Brigadier General Assadollah Hadinejad said.
Most of the illicit drugs are opium, amounting to 10,333 kg, which accounts for 81% of the total seizures in the last week, the commander stated.
He further said 841 kg of hashish, 384 kg of morphine, 512 kg of heroine, 455 kg of crystal meth, and 147 liters of precursors are among the captured illicit drugs.
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.
