MNA � According to the released statement of the Iranian intelligence ministry, the forces identified and dismantled the largest drug smuggling band in the Southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.

Through extensive operations carried out by the Intelligence Ministry forces, a drug trafficking band comprised of four brothers, who carried drugs from one of neighboring countries by vessels and fishing boats to the coasts of Hormozgan, is dismantled.

The band was also in charge of drug distribution in Iran besides transiting drugs to other countries.

The Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug trades originating from Afghanistan in the past four decades, despite its high economic and human costs. The country has spent more than hundreds of millions of dollars on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.