TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Iran's Anti-Narcotics Police Chief announced on Thursday that his forces have confiscated a large number of weapons from drug smugglers in the past Iranian calndar year (March 2014 to March 2015), the majority of which were service rifles of NATO forces

"The majority of weapons seized from drug smugglers are the service rifles of European countries and the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)," Brigadier General Ali Moayyedi told the Tasnim News Agency.

In similar remarks against the presence of NATO forces beyond the eastern borders of Iran, General Moayyedi had earlier noted that the drug traffickers in Afghanistan are surprisingly in possession of weapons that are used by the NATO forces.

The weapons of NATO origin confiscated from the traffickers suggest that "we are not confronting mere drug dealers, but we encounter armed smugglers that are acting in an organized manner," added the commander.

Elsewhere in his Thursday remarks, General Moayyedi slammed certain so-called advocates of human rights for referring to Iran's fight against drug traffickers as violation of human rights.

"Those countries and individuals who proclaim to be advocates of human rights and accuse us (of violating human rights) in our fight against armed drug traffickers should answer this question," he said. "Would they take the same stance if these disasters happened in their own countries?"

Iran has paid an exorbitant price over the past three decades in its fight against drugs, which has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 police forces, while another 1,200 staff have been paralyzed in the line of duty.

The country is on a major transit route for drugs being smuggled from Afghanistan to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In recent decades Iran has been hit by drug trafficking, mainly because of its 936- kilometer shared border with Afghanistan, where the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says accounts for 90% of the world's opium.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Iran is netting eight times more opium and three times more heroin than all other countries in the world combined.

By Tasnim News Agency