Police Chief of Sistan and Balouchestan province Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari said on Saturday that 2,390 kilograms of different drugs were seized when the police force busted a gang attempting to smuggle the drugs into the country through Saravan borders.
The smuggled cargo was carried by two cars commuting in Saravan-Khash road, he added.
1,927 kg of opium, 436 kg of hashish, and 53 kg of other types of drugs have been seized during the operation, in addition to confiscation of some amount of ammunition, he said.
According to the police chief, the smugglers fled to the highlands of the area using the darkness of the night.
Based on the United Nations reports, Afghanistan ranks first as the producer of opium and heroin in the world. Iran, being Afghanistan's neighbor, has always been the main route for smuggling narcotics to the Western world.
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/IRN 83754969