Police Chief of Sistan and Balouchestan province Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari said some 2 tons and 518kg of different drugs were seized when the police force busted a gang attempting to smuggle the drugs into the country through Saravan borders.
Three smugglers have been arrested during the operation, in addition to confiscating 1,922kg opium, 230kg morphine, 323kg hashish, 43kg and 460g heroin and some amount of ammunition, he added.
The Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past three decades, despite its high economic and human costs. The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades. 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.