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Irans drug combat squads have seized more than 5,000 kilograms of illicit drugs in three separate operations in the Southeastern province of Kerman.[/caption]TEHRAN (FNA)- Irans drug combat squads have seized more than 5,000 kilograms of illicit drugs in three separate operations in the Southeastern province of Kerman, a provincial police commander announced on Monday.
We have discovered over five tons of narcotics, including opium, from the drug traffickers' truck in Kerman province, Provincial Police Chief Brigadier General Hossein Chenarian told reporters in the city of Kerman today.
He said that seven drug traffickers have also been arrested during the police operation.
Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian police have lost about 4,000 of their personnel in the country's combat against narcotics.
According to official estimates, Iran's battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually. Strategies pursued by Tehran include digging canals, building barriers and installing barbed wire to seal the country's borders, specially in the East.
Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime.
Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.
By Fars News Agency
