Iranian anti-narcotics police swoop on major drug ring

By Jay Jackson, Chicago Chronicle
22 Jul 2019, 11:23 GMT+10

Working-around-the-clock, Iranian forces are cracking down on drug cartels causing widespread insecurity amongst drug smugglers
A drug bust on the weekend in Iran's southern provinces of Bushehr and Hormozgan, has resulted in the seizure of 655 kgs. of opium
The Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over recent decades

TEHRAN, Iran - The anti-narcotics police forces in Iran are waging war on drug dealers, and are having success.

A drug bust on the weekend in Iran's southern provinces of Bushehr and Hormozgan, has resulted in the seizure of 655 kilograms of opium, a provincial police chief confirmed on Saturday.

Working-around-the-clock, Iranian forces are cracking down on drug cartels causing widespread insecurity amongst drug smugglers.

Bushehr Province Police Commander Brigadier General Khalil Vaezi told reporters in the southwestern port city of Asalouyeh on Saturday, an intelligence-led investigation resulted in the identificationa and destruction of a major drug ring by the anti-narcotic police forces of Bushehr and Hormozgan.

During the operation, he said, the forces seized a vehicle belonging to the drug ring and captured twenty-seven packages of opium, weighing 655 kilograms in total.

Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over recent decades.

The country says it has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.

The war on the drug trade which mostly originates from Afghanistan, has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian law enforcement officers over the past four decades.

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