Publish Date: 14 May 2019 - 17:03

TEHRAN, May 14 (MNA) –International Deputy of Iran Drug Control Headquarters Nasser Aslani said that the force has seized 16,219 kg of different illicit drugs in seven provinces of Iran.

Police forces have seized 12,360 kg opium, 333 kg Crystal meth, 1,371 kg morphine, 1,649 kg hashish, 275 kg of heroin, 14,090 pills of psychedelic drug and 231 kg of other illicit drugs, he said.

He mentioned that this figure shows a 20 percent increase of seizure in second half of May 2019, adding, police has arrested 202 smugglers.

The Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past three decades, despite its high economic and human costs. The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades. The country has spent more than hundreds of millions of dollars on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.

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