Commander of Sistan and Baluchestan Border Guards Colonel Mohammad Mollashahi made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that following comprehensive intelligence operations, the police border guards identified a drug-trafficking gang in Jakigor border area.
1615 kilograms of opium along with 2 cars were seized in this operation, he said.
2 smugglers were also arrested and handed to the judiciary, he 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.
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 World Drug Report 2019 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.
MNA/4924247