Iranian minister says Iran key in anti-drug war

TEHRAN, March 13 (MNA) – Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said that the Islamic Republic plays a significant role in the campaign against drugs in the world. Mohammad-Najjar made the remarks during the 55th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna on Monday. Mohammad-Najjar said that according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2011, Iran has seized the highest percentage of opium (89%) and heroin and morphine (41%) in the world. He added that Iran seized more than 500 tons of illicit drugs in total during 2011. With a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Afghanistan, Iran has been used as the main conduit for smuggling illicit drugs from its neighbor to drug kingpins in Europe. In response, the Iranian government has spent over $700 million to seal its borders and prevent the transit of illicit drugs destined for European, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian countries. Despite the presence of U.S. and British troops in Afghanistan and their extensive public relations campaign about their efforts to eliminate the production and smuggling of drugs, 3,600 tons of opium was produced in Afghanistan in 2010, based on UN statistics and estimates.