Addressing an expert meeting of deputies, advisors, general managers, and secretaries of the Drug Control Headquarters of provinces across the country, Eskandar Momeni said that Iran is the flag-bearer of narcotics confiscation in the world, while drug production and trafficking has increased by 50% over the past two decades.
Calling drug addictions one of the major harms in the world today, he highlighted that according to the United Nations, there are 300 million drug addicts in the world and about 500,000 deaths are attributable to drug use in the world.
Referring to a 50 percent increase in the cultivation and trafficking of narcotics in Afghanistan with NATO-backed support, he added that Afghanistan ranks first in opium cultivation and second place in industrial drug production.
He noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran has made good achievements to deal with addiction with all its power and capacities.
Pointing to the key role of Iran in countering narcotics trafficking in the world, he said that 90% of opium confiscation, 50% of morphine confiscation, and 27% of heroin confiscation were done by Iran.
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.
Iran has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab, and Central Asian countries.
AMK/5807800
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