TEHRAN –Iran anti-narcotics police have reported the seizure of more than 500 tons of different types of narcotics in the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year that started in March 2023.

A total of 230 drug dealers were killed by police officers, IRNA quoted Iraj Kakavand, the head of anti-narcotics police, as saying.

Narcotics seizures up by 21%

On December 30, 2023, Kakavand, said since the beginning of the current year, some 470 tons of narcotics have been seized from smugglers all over the country, Mehr News Agency reported.

“We are witnessing a 21-percent rise in seizures of narcotics originating from Afghanistan,” he added.

A large number of smugglers have also been identified and arrested in this regard, Kakavand stressed.

In October, Kakavand, in a meeting with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) representative in Tehran, Alexander Fedulov, called it essential to support Iran in the fight against drug trafficking.

During the meeting, Fedulov said the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been committed to a serious and decisive fight against narcotics at the regional and global level, IRIB reported.

Iran has spent a huge sum of money fighting the war on drugs, and apart from that, many anti-narcotics forces have sacrificed their lives in this way. The high number of martyrs and injured shows Iran's serious determination to deal with this scourge, the UN official added.

"Considering the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is at the forefront of the fight against drug trafficking, the UNODC and the international community support of Iran should be proportionate to the activities and actions at the regional and global level.”

MT/MG