TEHRAN - Liang Yun, the head of the Chinese Narcotics Control Bureau, has praised Iran’s efforts in fighting against narcotics and drug trafficking.

“Statistics show that a large amount of narcotics is seized by Iran's Anti-Narcotics Police. This issue proves very high capacity and capability of Iran in fighting against drug trafficking in both regional and global scales,” he added.

The Chinese official made the remarks in a meeting with Majid Karimi, head of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Police, which was held through videoconference on Wednesday. 

The Iranian official, for his part, referred to the coronavirus pandemic which has provided a situation for smugglers to boost drug trafficking from Afghanistan to other regional countries, including Iran, saying that some 10,000 tons of narcotics are produced annually in the region which is a serious threat not only for Asian countries but for the whole world.

Iran seized some 1,000 tons of narcotics in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 20), putting the country in the first place in the world, Eskandar Momeni, the director of headquarters for the fight against narcotics, said in July.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (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.

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.

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.

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

MG