Speaking in an interview with IRNA on Sunday, Gharibabadi pointed to the report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and also statistics & documents on the discoveries of narcotic drugs, he reiterated, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is flagbearer in the fight against drugs in the world.”
According to this report, which was released last week, 644 tons out of 704 tons of opium, 25 tons out of 97 tons of heroin and 21 tons out of 43 tons of morphine have been discovered only by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Gharibabadi emphasized.
After the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan stood at the second and third ranks respectively in terms of discovery of narcotic drugs and its derivatives, he continued.
Given the above issue, Afghanistan discovered 50 tons of opium while Pakistan discovered 29 tons of opium, Gharibabadi added
With the discovery of total of 690 tons of opium, heroin, and morphine out of 844 tons [accounting for 82 percent of total discoveries], Iran is a pioneer in the discovery of opium and its derivatives in the world, he stressed.
According to the United Nations, the Islamic Republic of Iran also discovered about 100 tons of hashish in 2018.
In a special meeting of Anti-Drug Commission which was held on Friday on the occasion of ‘International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking’, Gharibabadi reiterated, “it is for many years that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been discovering and confiscating the largest amount of narcotics in the world at the condition that it has been subjected to the unilateral and illegal US sanctions and has not benefitted from the assistance of the international community.”
“Iran has a balanced, intelligent approach in the field of narcotics; the country has put preventive measures and plans to raise awareness about the negative impacts of drug abuse high on its agenda in a bid to reduce the demand for narcotics in the society,” he opined.
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