Some 26,290 kilograms of illicit drugs consisting of 18,951 kilograms of opium and 2,356 kilograms of hashish, 556 kilograms of heroin, 181 kilograms of crystal, 37 kilograms of grass, 152 kilograms of morphine, and 4,057 kilograms of other kinds of drugs have been confiscated by police forces across the country in the last week, said Aslani.
The figure indicates a 58 percent increase compared to the corresponding period last year, he added.
Aslani noted that 7,508 culprits have been arrested and 399 vehicles and some ammunition seized in the same period by police forces.
Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.
Based on reports, near 15 tons of drugs have been confiscated in several operations in Sistan and Baluchestan since the beginning of May.
Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past decades.
The country has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.
The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades.
ZZ/IRN 83794937