TEHRAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Iranian police have seized about 2,008 kilograms of narcotics in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.
Among the drugs seized included 902 kg of opium, 74 kg of hashish, and 32 kg of heroin, Ahmad Taheri, deputy police chief in the province, was quoted as saying.
In the police operations, five smugglers were arrested, and three Kalashnikov machine guns and three Toyota vehicles were confiscated, Taheri said.
Iran, which has a 900-km common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to Europe.
Over the past years, the country has spent more than 700 million U.S. dollars on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries, according to the report.
The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past 39 years.
