TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the amount of discovery of illicit drugs by Iran’s drug combat squads has increased by 20 percent in the past six months.


“The amount of narcotics discovered in Iran has increased by 20 percent since the current government came to power in July,” Rahmani Fazli said in a television program on Saturday night.

The Iranian interior minister stressed that nearly 95 percent of drug traffickers’ convoys are discovered now and the Ground Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has taken the responsibility for maintaining security along 220 kilometers of Saravan borders in the Southeastern Sistan and Balouchestan province.

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

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.

The United Nations credits Iran with the seizure of 81 percent of the opium and 34 percent of the heroin netted around the world.

By Fars News Agency 

 

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