TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian police commander called on the regional countries to boost their cooperation in the combat on drug trafficking in a bid to decrease and stop transit of narcotics.


Commander of the anti-narcotics squad of Iran's Law Enforcement Police General Ali Moayyedi made the call in the opening ceremony of the Fourth Conference of Regional Workgroup to Combat Drug Trafficking underway in Tehran.

�If countries run cooperation and come into harmony they can step towards controlling transit of narcotics and their precursors through taking serious decisions and determination,� General Moayyedi said.

He mentioned cooperation between Iranian and UAE Police departments in recent days which has resulted in the seizure of 10 tons of narcotics as a successful example of collaboration among the regional states.

Representatives from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC) for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors are attending the conference.

Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states.

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.

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.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian police have lost nearly 4,000 of their personnel in the country's combat against narcotics.

Sistan and Baluchestan province, where Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan come together, has porous borders, where bandits and drug traffickers operate despite frequent entanglements and intense efforts of the Iranian law enforcement police.

By Fars News Agecny

 

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