TEHRAN, Jun. 26 (MNA) – Secretary of Iran Drug Control Headquarters has said that despite all the obstacles created by the US outrageous sanctions, the Islamic Republic of Iran has seized 800 tons of illegal drugs.

Addressing the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, on Monday, Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has the highest seizure of illegal drugs in the world with the confiscation of 800 tons.

Cruel sanctions have created numerous challenges in combating narcotics, but the Islamic Republic of Iran continues its counter-narcotic plans strongly, he underlined.

According to world statistics, drug trafficking is expanding in the world, and using the Internet is a tool for smugglers to increase drug trafficking, he added.

Pointing out Afghanistan as the main country in harvesting opium in the world, he noted that smuggling illegal drugs in the country has a 30% increase in 2022 compared to the same period in the year before.

The Islamic Republic of Iran remains one of the major transit routes for the trafficking of drugs from Afghanistan as well as the smuggling of precursors into it.

Iran has a 900-kilometer border with Afghanistan and has been used as the main conduit for smuggling drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.

AMK/5820124