Iran seizes largest drug cargo

Iranian police officers have seized nine tons of illegal narcotics in a single operation in the country's central province of Kerman, reported Press TV.

Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Law Enforcement Affairs Ali Abdollahi told Fars News Agency on Sunday that the cargo was seized from a container on the Bam-Kerman road on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, Kerman police chief commander Hossein Chenarian said this is the first time such a large volume of illegal narcotics has been seized in a single police operation.

Chenarian said that his forces have identified the traders and members of the drug-trafficking ring responsible for the smuggling of the largest drug cargo seized after the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution and efforts are underway to arrest them.

In July, the United Nations hailed Iran's counternarcotics efforts, and called on the countries of the world to have more cooperation with the Islamic Republic in the fight against drugs.

"The United Nations appreciates Iran's valuable and unique efforts to fight the smuggling of narcotics," Martin Nesirky, spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said on July 22.

"The UN requests that the global community have more cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the all-out fight against narcotics," Nesirky added.

Iran has a 900-kilometer (560-mile) common border with Afghanistan which accounts for 90 percent of the world's illicit opium and heroin production, the UN says.

However, according to the United Nations, Iran ranks first among all countries in shutting down drug routes into its territories.

The war on drugs originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years.

Iran has spent more than USD 700 million to seal the borders and prevent the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.

The Islamic Republic blames growing drug trafficking from Afghanistan to other parts of the world on foreign military presence in the war-ravaged country.


/Trend/