Following massive intelligence work, anti-narcotics police forces of Sistan and Balouchestan managed to identify a major drug ring that had intended to transit a big haul of illicit drugs from border areas to the cities of Saravan and Nik Shahr, General Ahmad Taheri said on Sunday.
In an operation on Saturday, the forces arrested three smugglers and captured two vehicles, he said, adding that after inspecting the vehicles, the forces seized 900 kilograms of opium, 327 kg of hashish, two Kalashnikov rifles and plenty of ammunition.
General Taheri went on to say that in a clash with other members of the drug gang in Nik Shahr, the police managed to capture 1,032 kg of opium, 53.7 kg of heroin and 3 kg of other kinds of narcotics.
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.