“From the beginning of the current year (March 21, 2019) some 25 tons of drugs have been confiscated in the province, showing a growth of 14 percent in comparison with the year before,” he said.
“Some 42 drug bands have also been dismantled in Fars, in the said time,” he added.
Chief of Staff of Iranian President Mahmoud Vaezi said on September 14 that fighting drug-trafficking is significant for Iran, adding that Iranian administration has made efforts against decreasing the budget of the Drug Control Headquarters and that fortunately the drug trafficking has been identified as an essential issue in Iran.
Vaezi stressed that Iran cannot solely coordinate with the countries of the region in order to fight against drug-trafficking and needs international assistance.
Located near Afghanistan which is one of the main sources of opium production in the world, Iran is on the frontline of the fight against drug trafficking. Iran has lost many forces during this fight. The country has always asked for international help in such operations, noting that the other countries, especially European states, should take responsibility and play a positive role in this fight or face its threats themselves.
Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past four 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.
According to reports, in 2018 alone, Iranian forces carried out 1,557 operations against drug traffickers, seizing approximately 807 tons of different types of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
According to the latest World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2017, Iran had seized the largest quantity of opiates, accounting for 39% of the global total.
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