Iranian Police Intercept Several Tons of Narcotics at Borders

Iran’s Law Enforcement Police have seized large cargos of narcotics in several operations along the country’s borders, specially in Sistan and Balouchestan, a border guard commander announced on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, Lieutenant Commander of Iran’s Border Guards for Operations Hamid Sharafi said that Iranian border guards have seized several drug cargos, including one which contained 2,300kg of drugs, since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21- April 20).

“The border guards have been able to discover and seize … a total volume of over 8.5 tons of different types of narcotics in separate operations conducted along the country’s borders since the start of this (Iranian) year,” Sharafi underscored.

He added that the seizures signify the Iranian police’s control over the borders of the country.

The anti-drug squads of the Iranian Law Enforcement Police have intensified their countrywide campaign against drug-trafficking through staging long-term systematic operations since two years ago.

But, the Iranian police measures along the Eastern borders have forced drug-traffickers to resort to other routes, including the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf, for smuggling their drug cargos which originate in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Each year, the government spends hundreds of millions of dollars erecting barriers along the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan and pumping resources into checkpoints. Officials say the battle against drug addiction and trafficking costs Iran US$1 billion a year.

According to the UNODC, these days, 93 percent of the world’s opium is produced in the neighboring Afghanistan, 60 per cent of which is destined for the EU and specially US markets, and the main transit route is Iran, where the country’s dedicated police squad risk their lives to make the most discoveries of drug cargoes, disband drug-trafficking gangs and organizations and much more in a bid to rescue not only the Iranian youth but also all those living in Europe and the US.

Iran has always complained about the EU and other international bodies’ lack of serious cooperation with Iran in the campaign against drug trafficking from Afghanistan.