Police Capture over 2.7 Tons of Illicit Drugs in SE Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s anti-narcotics police forces have managed to seize more than 2,700 kilograms of various kinds of illicit drugs during two operations in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan, a provincial police commander announced.
In cooperation with the anti-narcotics police, the law enforcement forces of the cities of Mehrestan and Iranshahr in Sistan and Balouchestan Province managed to identify a major drug ring that had intended to transit a big haul of illicit drugs, Colonel Ahmad Taheri said on Sunday.
After several weeks of monitoring the gang’s activities, the police forces identified their vehicles and clashed with the armed smugglers, he added.
In the operation, the forces arrested five smugglers and captured three vehicles and 1,993 kilograms of various types of narcotics, the commander stated.
Colonel Taheri went on to say that in another operation in Hamoun, in the same province, the police managed to capture 518 kg of heroin, 154 kg of opium and 92 kg of opium juice.
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.
