TEHRAN (FNA)- The drug combat squads of Iran's Law Enforcement Troops have seized more than 1,300 kilograms of narcotics in an operation in the Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan, a provincial police chief announced on Sunday.


�We discovered and seized a sum of 1,364 kilograms of opium from a Peugeot 405 passenger car after clashes with drug-traffickers in Saravan last night,� Sistan and Balouchestan Police Commander Brigadier General Hamid Fahimirad told FNA.

Iran leads international efforts in fighting drug networks and narcotic traffickers.

According to official estimates, Iran's battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually.

The Iranian police officials maintain that drug production in Afghanistan has undergone a 40-fold increase since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

Sistan and Balouchestan province, where Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan come together, has porous borders, where bandits and drug traffickers operate despite frequent entanglements and intense efforts of the Iranian law enforcement police.

Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime.

By Fars News Agency

 

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