Iran seizes UK-bound drugs cargo

Iran’s Police have confiscated a total of 120 kilograms of drugs in a cargo bound for London at Imam Khomeini International Airport in the capital, Tehran.

Colonel Hassan Mehri, the commander of airports police, was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying on Sunday that sniffer dogs found the opium cargo in the warehouse of Iran Air on Saturday.

He added that the drugs were hidden among industrial ratchet wheels bound for the British capital.

The police commander said four people were arrested in connection with the case.

Iran, which has a 900-kilometer-long (560-mile-long) common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.

Iran has spent more than $700 million to seal its borders to prevent 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 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years. The United Nations has praised Iran’s efforts to battle drug trafficking.