Second Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari, the Police Chief of Sistan and Baluchestan, said on Tuesday that following the traces of a professional drug trafficking ring in the border regions, the anti-narcotic forces raided their ambush in the border town of Hirmand, capturing six perpetrators.
He noted that during the operation, the police discovered 1,117 kilograms of different drugs, including 1,059kg of opium, 17.6kg of heroin and 39.5kg of meth.
Police and security forces have been quite successful in ensuring security in the province despite its long borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, harsh weather and vast desert areas.
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.
Based on reports, near 15 tons of drugs have been confiscated in several operations in Sistan and Baluchestan since the beginning of May.
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/4929184
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