Police Chief of Qazvin province Second Brigadier General Mehdi Hajian made the announcement on Saturday, saying that following comprehensive intelligence activities, the forces identified a 198kg cargo of illicit drugs passing through the central province of Yazd toward the northern province of Qazvin.
Coordinating the information with the anti-narcotics forces of Yazd, the opium cargo was stopped in the city of Mehriz on Saturday, and the offender was arrested, he added.
Since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 20), the police forces have busted around 2 tons of illicit drugs in Yazd province, which is the main route connecting the southern and southeastern parts of the country to the central and northern regions.
Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.
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.
MR/4920911
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