TEHRAN – A total of 1,200 kilograms of different illicit drugs has been seized in Zanjan province in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-September 22), Zanjan province’s police chief has announced. 

According to Rahim Jahanbakhsh, the figure indicates a 22% growth in comparison with the same period in last year, Mehr reported on Tuesday.

Jahanbakhsh also said 15 drug trafficking bands have been dismantled and a total of 1,974 culprits have been detained in the province during the six-month period.

This also demonstrates a 24% increase compared to last year, he added.

Iran is at the forefront of the fight against drug trafficking and thousands of Iranian forces have been so far martyred to protect the world from the danger of drugs.

According to reports, in 2018 alone, Iranian forces carried out 1,557 operations against drug traffickers, seizing approximately 807 tons of different types of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

According to the World Drug Report 2019 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2017 Iran had seized the largest quantity of opiates, accounting for 39% of the global total.

Also, Head of Drug Control Headquarters (DCH) Eskandar Momeni has warned of the increase in production of crystal methamphetamine in Afghanistan from 200 tons per year to its present 9,000 tons per year.

He said the report rings the alarm bell for the international community and will harm regional as well as Western countries.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has seized 580 tons of narcotics through 2,000 operations in the first half of 2019,” he said in a meeting with Jean-Luc Lemahieu, UNODC Director of Policy Analysis and Public Affairs in Vienna. 

“Some ten tons of the seized drugs in the said time were crystal meth, registering 600 percent increase compared to the same period in the preceding year.”

MH/PA