TEHRAN, April 29, YJC - Iranian police forces in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan arrested a professional narcotics trafficker with more than 1.5 tons of opium after an exchange of fire in a car chase.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Following extensive intelligence activities and after receiving
information about a drug-transiting operation near the city of
Iranshahr, police commandos lay in ambush in ‘Bampour’ area to capture
members of a gang carrying drugs with a sedan, the provincial police
chief, General Hossein Rahimi said Saturday.
Following a car chase
and gun battle on the road, police forces arrested the traffickers,
including a professional drug dealer, the commander said, adding that
more than 150 kilograms of opium was found in the car.
In a subsequent raid on the house of the infamous drug dealer, another 1,300 kilograms of opium was confiscated, he added.
Iran,
which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used
as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in
Europe.
Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic
Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past three
decades.
The country has spent more than $700 million on sealing
its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for
European, Arab and Central Asian countries.
The war on drug trade
originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000
Iranian police officers over the past four decades.
Source: Tasnim News Agency