An official with counternarcotics committee of Razavi Khorasan province Mohammad Hassan Jahan said on Sunday that 33 tons of illegal drugs have been seized since June 26, 2018 in various operations. Majority of the found drugs are opium with 74% while hashish and heroin rank next with 12 and 10 percent respectively, he added.
8,710 smugglers have also been arrested during several operations and the level of drug discoveries has increased by 4% compared to the corresponding period last year, he mentioned.
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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