Over 420 kg of illegal drugs seized in SW Iran

Second Brigadier General Heydar Abbas Zadeh made the announcement on Sunday noting that after intelligence operations, two consignments of illicit drugs have been seized in Behbahan and Hendijan cities by the anti-narcotics police forces of Khuzestan province.

423 kg of opium along with 3 cars have been busted in separate operations, he said.

3 offenders have also been arrested and handed to the judiciary, he added.

Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.

Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past decades.

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.

The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades.

MNA/IRN 83782924