TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Anti-narcotics units of Iran’s Police in the central province of Yazd seized 652 kg of illicit drugs in a single operation.

The province’s Antic-narcotics Police Chief Colonel Mohammad Hossein Sotoudenia said the operation began on Saturday morning, after police received information about the shipment of a drug haul in desert areas.

After hours of car chase that stretched into the southern province of Kerman, two smugglers were arrested and the haul of drugs was confiscated, the commander added.

According to the Iranian Police, Yazd Province is one of the main conduits for the transit of illicit drugs by smugglers.

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.

By Tasnim News Agency