Iran Seizes Hauls of Explosives at Eastern Borders

Following a round-the-clock operation, the intelligence forces in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan managed to seize the hauls of explosive devices which were embedded in a large narcotics cargo.

A terrorist group was smuggling a large cargo weighing 80 kilogram of explosive devices including 17 explosive traps mainly used for road bombs, 28 pistols with at least 2,000 cartridges, 35 grenades and tens of electronic detonators as well as other explosive warfare, a Farsi report by IRIB News Agency said.

The intelligence forces also confiscated at least 580 kilogram of narcotics from the terrorists.

Last year, Iranian intelligence forces seized a similar cargo in southern Kerman province.

Officials believe the presence of explosive devices and narcotics in cargos smuggled into Iran reveals the close links between narcotics trafficking and terrorism.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the link between terrorism and drugs trafficking is evident and has been recognized by the UN Security Council.

There have been numerous accounts identifying a linkage between drugs and terrorist networks that take multiple different forms, ranging from facilitation, protection, transportation, and taxation, to direct trafficking by the terrorist organizations itself in order to finance its activities, UN reports say.