Addressing the opening ceremony of the 12th meeting of the Regional Working Group on Precursors (RWGP) in Tehran on Monday, General Zahedian described the phenomenon of illicit drugs as one of the major problems of human society and said countering this phenomenon depends on cooperation among all countries in the world.
“Fortunately, the Anti-Narcotics Police of the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite unjust sanctions, have made significant strides in the fight against narcotics,” he said.
In the first seven months of 2019, the Iranian police have managed to capture 364 tons of illicit drugs, the commander went on to say.
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 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.