Iran’s Judiciary Urges Regional Cooperation against Organized Crimes

Iranian Judiciary’s Deputy Chief and Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei called on regional countries to boost cooperation in the fight against organized crimes, drug trafficking in particular.

Speaking at a meeting with Kazakh Prosecutor General Askhat Daulbayev in Tehran on Tuesday, Mohseni Ejei expressed deep concern over the problem of drug production and trafficking in the region and the world and said illicit drugs have killed thousands of people across the globe.

“The fight against drugs smuggling is not the responsibility of only one or a few countries,” he said, adding that all countries should join hands to combat the inauspicious phenomenon.

The Iranian Judiciary’s deputy chief went on to say that many crimes have their roots in drug use and therefore regional countries should cooperate in the fight against such organized crimes.

In recent decades, Iran has been hit by drug trafficking, mainly because of its 936-kilometer shared border with Afghanistan, which produces more than 90% of the world’s opium.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Islamic Republic is netting eight times more opium and three times more heroin than all other countries in the world combined.

The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years.