TEHRAN (FNA)- Irans drug combat squads have seized more than 4 tons of illicit drugs in 7 months of operations in Western Tehran province, a provincial police commander announced on Wednesday.We have discovered and seized 4,029 kilograms of various types of narcotics, including opium, crystal, hashish, heroin and morphine, in the past 7 months, Western Tehran Province Police Commander Brigadier General Nasser Aslani said today.
The police commander said that 642 drug traffickers have also been arrested in separate operations during this period.
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 more than 3720 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
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