Iran security said on Monday that over 14 tons of narcotics have been seized throughout the country in the past two years.
An official of Basij (volunteer) forces Colonel Gholam Hossein Dezfuli was quoted by the Iranian official news agency (IRNA) as saying that 23,000 members of drug trafficking gangs have been handed over to judicial authorities in the same period.
He said the Basij members have also focused on gangs involved in social vices and some of these gangs including two notorious ones have been busted in the holy city of Qom. Iran lies on the crossroads of an international drugs trade route, which originates from Afghanistan and Pakistan and stretches as far as the Arabian Gulf Arab states, Europe and beyond.
More than 3,100 members of Iranian armed forces have been killed in clashes with drug traffickers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. According to official estimates, Iran's anti-drug campaign costs the country 800 million dollars each year. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
