AMMON: Iranian coast guards managed to seize nearly 700 kilograms of heroin en route to Jordan, the commander of the border guard headquarters of the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan announced.
In a successful operation after intense intelligence work, the brave coast guards thwarted a sinister scheme by smugglers to transit the illicit drugs from Bandar Abbas to Jordan by a ship and a boat, Brigadier General Saeed Komeili said.
The coast guards managed to seize more than 685 kilograms of heroin and 150,000 liters of smuggled fuel in waters off the coasts of Makran in Sistan and Balouchestan, the commander noted.
He added that 10 smugglers were arrested and the two vessels were confiscated in the operation. 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.
