TEHRAN – Iranian border guards have seized over 1,400 kilograms of opium from drug traffickers in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, near the Pakistani border.

The border guards at the Saravan border seized the drugs from smugglers, who were trying to carry the cargo inside the country, the province’s board guards commander Saeed Komeili said, media reported.

Komeili said the smugglers escaped after the incident, and that operations were underway to identify and arrest them.

According to official estimates, the fight against drug trafficking annually costs Iran about $1 billion.

MH/PA