Police seize 885kg of opium in southern province

The Iranian law enforcement police squads seized over 885kg of opium in the country's Southern province of Hormozgan on the rims of the Persian Gulf yesterday, provincial police officials announced on Tuesday. Hormozgan's Police Chief General Mohammad Ali Akhoundi told reporters that his forces have seized 885.495kg of opium yesterday. The commander stated that his troops have seized opium cargos in Khor, Hajiabad, Khamir and Fin districts in Hormozgan province. Also during the operations, the police managed to discover and seize two Kalashnikov rifles along with a cache of ammos, he added. The anti-drug squads of the Iranian Law Enforcement Police have intensified their countrywide campaign against drug-trafficking through staging long-term systematic operations in recent months. The Iranian anti-narcotic police have always staged periodic, but short-term, operations against drug traffickers and dealers, but the latest reports - which among others indicate an improved and systematic dissemination of information - reveal that the world's most forefront and dedicated anti-narcotic force (as UN drug-campaign assessments put it) has embarked on a long-term countrywide plan to crack down on the drug trade since the beginning of the current Iranian year. According to the UNODC, these days, 93 percent of the world's opium is produced in Iran's neighboring country Afghanistan, 60% of which is destined for the EU and specially the US markets, and the main transit route is Iran, where the country's dedicated police squad risk their lives to make the most discoveries of drug cargoes, disband drug-trafficking gangs and organizations and much more in a bid to rescue not only the Iranian youth but also all those living in Europe and the US. Iran has always complained about the EU and other international bodies' lack of serious cooperation with Iran in the campaign against drug trafficking from Afghanistan. Iran also spends billions of dollars and has lost thousands of its police troops in the war against traffickers. According to official estimates, Iran's battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually. Strategies pursued by Tehran include digging canals, building barriers and installing barbed wire to seal the country's borders, specially in the East.