TEHRAN – The anti-narcotics police have seized over a ton of drugs in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan and the northeastern Khorasan Razavi provinces, IRNA reported on Saturday.

Security forces in the Mirjaveh Border Regiment obtained clues of the intention of drug traffickers to enter the country, and with careful operations, succeeded in discovering the narcotics shipment, commander of border guards Ahmad Ali Goudarzi said.

In this operation, while seizing a vehicle, 827 kilograms of various drugs, including 567 kilograms of opium and 260 kilograms of hashish were confiscated from smugglers, he stated.

Meanwhile, border guards in Khorasan Razavi province discovered 182.5 kilograms of narcotics that had been placed in a car.

Iran is the leading country in the fight against narcotics worldwide.The anti-narcotics police discovered 1,200 tons of various drugs during the past [Iranian calendar] year (March 2020-March 2021), which is two-folded compared to the recent years, Eskandar Momeni, the director of headquarters for the fight against narcotics, said on June 26.

Iran is the leading country in the fight against narcotics worldwide; despite its proximity to Afghanistan, which is the largest producer of narcotics, he explained.

According to the UN Office, the Islamic Republic's continuous efforts to combat narcotics trafficking came up with the seizure of more than 90 percent of opium, 70 percent of morphine, and 20 percent of world heroin.

‘Common understanding, global action’

Iranian deputy anti-narcotics police chief Naqi Mahmoudi has stressed that the drug trafficking fight requires a common understanding and action by all members of the international community, and no country alone can address the challenges in this area.

Despite the conditions caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the imposition of harsh sanctions against the country, fortunately, with the efforts of anti-narcotics police in 2020, drug detection increased by 41 percent.

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

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has praised Iran’s efforts to fight against narcotics trafficking on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The organization also officially announced that the world’s first place in the discovery of opium, heroin, and morphine belongs to Iran.

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 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.

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