Publish Date: 18 February 2020 - 13:21

BANDAR ABBAS, Feb. 18 (MNA) – Iran’s anti-narcotics police forces have busted a total of 1,207 kilograms of illicit drugs in the southern provinces of Iran in the past three days.

Chief of Hormozgan Province Second Brigadier General Gholamreza Jafari said on Tuesday that following a series of intelligence operations, the anti-narcotics forces identified and busted 17 drug traffickers and a total of 1,207kg of different drugs.

The consignments contain 874kg of opium, 278kg of hashish, and 55kg of heroin.

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.

MNA/4855769