Police Chief of Sistan and Baluchestan province Second Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari said on Wednesday that following a series of intelligence operations, the big consignment was captured during a clash between the police forces and a gang attempting to smuggle the drugs into the country.
One of the smugglers was killed and two of them fled to the highlands of the area using the darkness of the night, Ghanbari added.
According to the police chief, the police forces of the province have busted 1.316 tons of opium and 82 kilograms of hashish during the operation.
The Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug trades originating from Afghanistan in the past four decades, despite its high economic and human costs. 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.
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.
MNA/IRN 83608269