Publish Date: 15 December 2020 - 20:30

TEHRAN, Dec. 15 (MNA) – The police forces of Hormozgan province, south of Iran have managed to dismantle two drug-smuggling gangs and seize over 1 ton of illicit drugs in the past 24 hours.

Police Chief of Hormozgan Province Second Brigadier General Gholamreza Jafari said on Tuesday that the anti-narcotics police forces of Minab and Roodan cities, with the technical and intelligence support of the anti-narcotics police of the province and with the intelligence measures, identified two drug-trafficking gangs that intended to transfer drug consignments by two vehicles.

Police forces arrested 4 smugglers in addition to confiscation of 975 kilograms of opium in one of the vehicles of smugglers, he added.

According to the police chief, in the continuation of the operation, police forces have seized 121 kilograms of opium and 17 kilograms of hashish in the house of the smugglers. 

1 smuggler also detained in this regard, Jafari said. 

Stating that 1.13 tons of narcotics were seized and 5 smugglers were arrested in this operation, he said that the arrested defendants were handed to judicial authorities and the police efforts to identify and arrest other possible members of this gang continue.

Iran is at the forefront of the fight against drug trafficking and thousands of Iranian forces have been so far martyred to protect the world from the danger of drugs. 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.

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