Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 22
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Over 300 metric tons of various drugs have been discovered and seized in Iran during the first seven months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21 - Oct. 22), Brigadier General Alireza Akbarshahi, an official with the Iranian Anti-Drug Campaign Headquarters said.
About 80 percent of the mentioned figure was seized in the country's eastern borders, Akbarshahi said, Iran's Mehr news agency reported Nov. 22.
He also noted that so far over 4,000 police officers were killed in the clashes with armed smugglers in the country.
Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Gulf States. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.
About 237 metric tons of various drugs, including 190 metric tons of opium, 35 metric tons of hashish, 5.4 metric tons of heroin, 5.3 metric tons of morphine and one metric tons of methamphetamine were seized in Iran during the first half of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22).
It was reported that some 500 metric tons of drugs were seized in the country during the 12-month period from March 21, 2013 to March 21, 2014.
The fight against drugs annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates.
The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.
