Police Chief of Sistan and Balouchestan province Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari said the big haul was captured after a series of intelligence operations and during a clash between the antinarcotics force and a gang attempting to smuggle the drugs into the country in Saravan border regions.
The busted consignment contained 2,089 kilograms of opium, 799 kilograms of hashish, he added.
One smuggler has been arrested in this regard and handed over to the judicial officials and the rest of them escaped using the darkness of the night, according to the police chief.
Four vehicles along with a number of different weapons were captured, Ghanbari added.
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/ 4871440