International Deputy of Iran Drug Control Headquarters Nasser Aslani said on Tuesday that a total of 23,072 kilograms of illicit drugs have been seized by police forces across the country in the last week.
The figure indicates a 39 percent increase compared to the corresponding period last year, he added.
According to Aslani, 19,499 kilograms of opium, 2,363 kilograms of hashish, 705 kilograms of morphine, 305 kilograms of heroin, 140 kilograms of crystal, 32 kilograms of grass, and 78 kilograms of other kinds of drugs have been confiscated by anti-narcotics police forces during several operations in the country.
3,815 smugglers have been arrested and 475 vehicles and some ammunition seized in the same period by police forces, he said.
Based on the United Nations reports, Afghanistan ranks first as the producer of opium and heroin in the world. Iran, being Afghanistan's neighbor, has always been the main route for smuggling narcotics to the Western world.
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.
ZZ/IRN 83776579
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