TEHRAN –The anti-narcotics police have reported the seizure of three tons and 472 kilograms of different types of narcotics in Zabol and Saravan counties, southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Border guards seized two tons and 200 kilograms of methamphetamine, 993 kilograms of opium, and 193 kilograms of marijuana, IRIB quoted Ahmad-Ali Goudarzi, Commander of Border Police, as saying.

Narcotics seizures up by 21%

On December 30, 2023, Iraj Kakavand, the head of anti-narcotics police, 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.”

Strategies to fight narcotics need to be revised

As long as there is demand for narcotic drugs, their supply and distribution cannot be restricted, so the strategies for dealing with illicit drugs have to primarily focus on controlling and lowering demand, President Masoud Pezeshkian announced on September 9.

Referring to addiction as one of the significant concerns of society, which is a root cause of many crimes and social corruption, he highlighted the inefficiency of the methods implemented so far in dealing with addiction in the country in the past years.

“Despite the many efforts that have been made in the country, we are still a long way from optimal conditions which makes it necessary to review and change the current methods by learning from the successful experiences of other countries,” Pezeshkian added.

Failing to monitor and curb demand for narcotic drugs, and focusing mainly on preventing drug supply are among the mistakes in the fight against narcotics, he further noted.

MT/MG