Nasser Aslani made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that 18,220 kilograms of illegal drugs consisting of 15,847 kilograms of opium and 1,152 kilograms of hashish, 403 kilograms of heroin, 591 kilograms of crystal, 163 kilograms of grass, and 64 kilograms of other kinds of drugs have been seized by police forces across the country in the last week.
The figure indicates a 68 percent increase compared to the corresponding period last year (10,257 kg), he added.
22 percent of drug confiscation has been carried out in Tehran province, Aslani said.
He went on to say that 3,512 smugglers have been arrested and 271 vehicles and some ammunition seized in the same period by police forces.
5 Iranian provinces, including Sistan and Baluchestan , South Khorasan, Kerman, Bushehr and Hormozgan share 55 percent of weekly drug confiscation.
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.
According to reports, in 2018 alone, Iranian forces carried out 1,557 operations against drug traffickers, seizing approximately 807 tons of different types of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
According to the World Drug Report 2019 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2017, Iran had seized the largest quantity of opiates, accounting for 39% of the global total.
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