TEHRAN - More than 778 tons of narcotics were seized by Iran in the first 10 months of 2020, Kazem Gharibabadi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Vienna, has said.

The largest amount of these seizures is Opium with 621,388 kg, followed by 76,626 kg of Hashish, 25,336 kg of other narcotics, 22,815 kg of Heroin, 17,500 kg of Morphine, and 14,458 kg of Methamphetamine, Gharibabadi wrote in a letter to the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

It was also mentioned that during this period, 9 Iranian officers were martyred. 

Meanwhile, about 110,020 kg of various narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances were seized throughout Iran from 14 November to 27 December 2020.

The highest seized type was Opium with 85,227 kg, followed by 9,400 kg of Hashish, 6,470 kg of other substances including precursors and psychotropic pills, 2,760 kg of Crystal, 2,518 kg of Heroin, 2,287 kg of Morphine, and 1,366 kg of Grass.

Iran’s leading role in drug-control campaigns

According to UNODC, Iran remains one of the major transit routes for drug trafficking from Afghanistan to European countries and has had a leading role at the global level in the drug-control campaigns.

The country seized some 1,000 tons of narcotics in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2020), putting the country in first place in the world, Eskandar Momeni, the secretary-general of Iran’s drug control headquarters, said in July 2020.

After the Islamic Revolution (in 1979), 3,800 were martyred, 12,000 were wounded and disabled in the fight against drug trafficking, Momeni announced.

UNODC World Drug Report 2020 estimates that in 2018, 91 percent of world opium, 48 percent of the world morphine, and 26 percent of the world heroin were seized by Iran.

MG