Police Seize Haul of Narcotics in Southeast Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Police forces in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan seized a large cargo of narcotics in single operation on Thursday after an exchange of gunfire with drug traffickers.
Provincial police commander, General Hossein Rahimi, said the anti-narcotics operation on Thursday morning ended with the confiscation of 1,662 kilograms of opium and 92 kg of hashish.
Members of the drug ring were smuggling the large cargo with fast off-road vehicles, but ran into a police ambush before the gunfight broke out, he added.
The general said three drug traffickers were arrested in the operation, while five AK-47 assault rifles and four vehicles were also confiscated.
Iran is on a major transit route for drugs being smuggled from Afghanistan to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the country's war on drug-traffickers has claimed the lives of thousands of Iranian police forces over the past three decades.
