TEHRAN - Iranian Interior Minister Abodolreza Rahmani Fazli said on Tuesday that Iran staunches unbridled flow of narcotics into the U.S. and Europe thanks to increasing drugs seizures and stricter anti-drugs measures.

“Hundreds of tons of narcotic types have been seized by our country (Iran), much more than that over the same period last year.” 

Rahmani Fazli, who also acts as the secretary general of Iran’s Drugs Control Headquarters, highlighted the statement during an appearance with the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yury Fedotov.

The meeting happened in New York on the first day of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (April 19-21). 

Rahmani Fazli also said European countries have been uncooperative with Iran in the anti-drugs battle, which could help ease the burden logistically and financially.

A more cooperative Europe could lend Iran a hand with the hardware demanded by anti-drugs missions, the official noted, calling for more serious policy on the European side.

“Any effective measure to cut down narcotics trafficking via the Balkan route is contingent upon their serious, practical cooperation in sectors such as delivery control, money laundering, financial resource tracking, drugs discovery, confiscation of international traffickers’ properties and identifying drug dealers as well as sharing information on traffickers.”  

The Balkan and northern routes are the main heroin trafficking corridors linking Afghanistan to the huge markets of the Russian Federation and Western Europe.

The Balkan route traverses Iran (often through Pakistan), Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria across South-East Europe to the Western European market.

The minister called for UNDOC engagement with all countries to explore more effective ways for ex-addicts not to bounce back to their bad habits.

Finally, as a practical step, Rahmani Fazli proposed that Afghan farmers be encouraged to cultivate other seeds but poppy on their farms.

For his part, Fedotov praised Iran's commitment to drug seizure and contribution to 40 percent of all such confiscations around the world, naming Iran the strategic partner of UNDOC and the global community in the drug fight.

Also, Fedotov expressed his gratitude to Iran for taking the helm of the tripartite anti-drugs coalition with Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying UNDOC will be unfailing in throwing its weight behind its members, particularly the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Elsewhere, in his remarks, the anti-drug figure called on Iran to share its experience with regional countries as the country has come a long way in battling narcotics trafficking.

Appreciating Iran’s recent measures to keep an eye on money laundering from illicit drugs trade, Fedotov showed readiness to back the plan, agreeing with Iran’s proposal to host the first anti-drug summit of 30 countries across the Balkan route.

Over the past 10 years, Iran has been fighting the battle against smuggling unaided, spending hundreds of millions of dollars and deploying tens of thousands of troops, many of whom martyred in this way. 
While there have been great breakthroughs, uprooting drug trafficking goes well beyond the potential of one single country.
 
 AK/