TEHRAN (FNA)- Irans drug combat squads have seized more than 35 tons of illicit drugs in 7 months of operations in the Eastern province of South Khorassan, a provincial police commander announced on Wednesday.We have seized 35,821 kilograms of narcotics, including opium and opium derivatives, in the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-October 22) in South Khorassan province, South Khorassan Province Police Commander Brigadier General Khalil Vaezi told reporters in the Eastern Iranian city of Birjand.
He said that 4,714 traffickers have been arrested on drug-related charges during the said period, adding that 578 vehicles have also been also seized from the culprits.
Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian police have lost about 4,000 of their personnel in the country's combat against narcotics.
According to official estimates, Iran's battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually. Strategies pursued by Tehran include digging canals, building barriers and installing barbed wire to seal the country's borders, specially in the East.
Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime.
Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.
By Fars News Agency
The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.
