Police seize over 1.6 ton of narcotics in southern province

Iran’s drug combat squads have seized more than 1.6 ton of illicit drugs in the southern province of Hormozgan, a provincial police chief announced.

“Over 1.4 tons of opium and 200 kilograms of hashish was seized from the drug traffickers in the province,” Commander of Hormozgan’s Law Enforcement Forces Brigadier General Reza Mohammadi Yeganeh told reporters on Sunday.

Eastern Iran borders Afghanistan, which is the world’s number one opium and drug producer. Iran’s geographical position has made the country a favorite transit corridor for drug traffickers who intend to smuggle their cargoes from Afghanistan to drug dealers in Europe.

Iran spends billions of dollars and has lost thousands of its police troops in the war against traffickers. Owing to its rigid efforts, Iran makes 81 percent of the world’s total opium seizures and has turned into the leading country in drug campaign.

Sistan and Baluchistan Province, where Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan come together, has porous borders, where bandits and drug traffickers operate despite frequent entanglements and intense efforts of the Iranian law enforcement police.

More than 3,720 Iranian security personnel have been killed fighting drug smugglers since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime.

Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.