Iran's Law Enforcement police seized two huge cargos of narcotics in Iran's eastern province of South Khorasan in the past 48 hours, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Tuesday.
The police forces seized a total volume of 1,168 kg of different types of narcotics and arrested 47 people in relation to the illicit drugs, South Khorasan's police chief General Ahmad Ali Goudarzi was quoted as saying.
He further announced that 24.5 tons of narcotics were seized during the past nine months since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2011), adding that the figure shows a 16- percent increase compared with the same period last year.
In October, Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said the country plans to beef up border control to fight against drug smuggling in the wake of increasing production of illicit drugs in Afghanistan.
Drug mafia has always been trying to take advantage of Iran's long borders with its neighbors for drug smuggling, the minister said, adding that the Islamic republic has to make more efforts to seal its borders and prevent the transit of illicit drugs.
Besides, promoting cooperation with neighboring countries should also be put on the agenda of Iran to encounter the menace of illicit drugs, he added.
Iran is paying a heavy price in combating drug trafficking, Mohammad-Najjar said, adding that Iran had spent over 700 million U.S. dollars to fortify its borders.
Some 3,600 Iranian troop members had been killed in fighting with drug traffickers near the border areas and more had been injured, the minister said.
Iran is located at the crossroad of international drug smuggling from Afghanistan, the world's top opium producer, to Europe.
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