“42% of the country’s prisoners are drug convicts,” Dorri Najafabadi lamented, adding that the rate “is even higher in some provinces of the country.”
The official said drug convicts comprise 65% of prisoners in the provinces of Sistan Baluchestan and South Khorassan, two provinces bordering Afghanistan.
Putting stress on the importance of crime prevention, Dorri Najafabadi urged all government and non-government organizations to make concerted efforts to prevent crimes.
He also referred to the enemies’ propaganda campaign over executions in Iran, saying most of the prisoners executed in Iran are drug smugglers.
Pointing to Iran’s long borders with Afghanistan, where 93% of the world's opium is grown, he insisted on the need to beef up border controls against drug traffickers.
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has increased over the past eight years, he lamented, calling on the international bodies to take effective measures to put strict limits on illicit drug cultivation in Afghanistan.
SN/PA
MNA
END