An anti-drug police chief in Iran says security agencies have captured 14 metric tons of illegal drugs during the first week of the new Iranian year.
The Iranian state broadcaster quotes the police chief as saying that compared to the same period last year, this shows an increase of 36 percent.
Commander Mohammad Masood Zahedian, chief of anti-drug operations said that 78 percent of the drugs were captured in Iran’s eastern provinces. These provinces border Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are either major producers or trafficking corridors for opium and heroin.
Because of having a long and porous border with Afghanistan, Iran is itself a major trafficking route for narcotics. However, a considerable part of the drugs smuggled into Iran are sold and used locally. Drug addiction has reached alarming levels in the country.
Previously, the general director of security in Iran’s Kerman province had said that narcotics production in Afghanistan reached 8,000 tons in 2017 and this is the major reason why more illegal drugs are being discovered in Iran.
During the past twelve months Iranian law enforcement has captured a total of 713 tons of drugs.