Iranian police seized 115 tons of illicit drugs in 3 months

TEHRAN,June 23(MNA) – The Iranian police have seized 115 tons of illicit drugs, including opium, hashish, morphine, and heroin across the country over the first three months of the Iranian calendar year which began on March 21, the chief of Iran’s anti-drug police announced on Saturday. In a press briefing in Tehran, Brigadier General Ali Moayyedi added that 600 drug gangs have been busted and hundreds of people arrested on drug-related charges. He also said that combating synthetic drugs is a priority, adding that 80 synthetic drug manufacturing units and mafias involved in this trade have been busted by the police during the same period. General Moayyedi went on to say that the police are planning to symbolically destroy 100 tons of illicit drugs on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26. He also called on the international community to help Iran in its combat against the transit of the illicit drugs, which is mainly shifting from overland conduits to the sea. Iran is used as the main conduit for smuggling illicit drugs from its eastern neighbors to drug kingpins in Europe. In response, the Iranian government has spent millions of dollars to seal its borders and prevent the transit of illicit drugs destined for European, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian countries.