TEHRAN – Police forces have seized 395 kilograms of narcotics in a single operation in the central province of Yazd, a provincial police commander said on Saturday, Mehr reported.

According to Mohammadreza Mir-Heidari, after thorough intelligence activities, the police traced the narcotics shipment, including 322 kilograms of opium and 73 kilograms of hashish in two trucks, which were destined for the central and northern parts of Iran.

Two offenders were also arrested during the operation, Mir-Heidari said.

The provincial police official said the illegal cargo had entered Yazd from Iran’s eastern provinces, which border Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Earlier this month, Yazd Province’s anti-narcotics forces seized a 326kg consignment of hashish which was being transported toward Tehran.

Iran, which has a 900-kilometer-long border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.

Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past decades.

The country has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.

The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades.

MH/PA