TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran's drug combat squads have seized more than 165 tons of illicit drugs in the first four months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), a senior police commander said."We have discovered over 165 tons of narcotics in the country in the first four months of the current year, which shows a 28 percent increase in comparison with the last years corresponding period, Commander of the anti-narcotics squad of Iran's Law Enforcement Police General Ali Moayyedi said.
He underlined that more than 30 drug traffickers have been killed in the said period.
Eastern Iran borders Afghanistan, which is the world's number one opium and drug producer. Iran's geographical position has made the country a favorite transit corridor for drug traffickers who intend to smuggle their cargoes from Afghanistan to drug dealers in Europe.
According to the World Drug Report 2012, the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2010 was ranked first in terms of opium and heroin seizures,accounting for 81% of the world opium seizures and 34% of the world heroin seizures.
According to the UNODC, these days, 93 percent of the world's opium is produced in the neighboring Afghanistan, 60 percent of which is destined for the EU and specially US markets, and the main transit route is Iran, where the country's dedicated police squad risk their lives to make the most discoveries of drug cargoes, disband drug-trafficking gangs and organizations and much more in a bid to rescue not only the Iranian youth but also all those living in Europe and the US.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has lost about 4,000 of its security forces in the war against drug traffickers.
Iran has always complained about the EU and other international bodies' lack of serious cooperation with Iran in the campaign against drug trafficking from Afghanistan.
By Fars News Agency
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