"Police's special operation forces disbanded two big drug-trafficking bands and seized 3743 kg of illicit drugs," Commander of the anti-drug squad of Iran's Law Enforcement Police General Hamid Reza Hossein-Abadi told reporters.
Reminding that the rings operated in several Iranian cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, Orumiyeh, Hamedan, Qazvin and Karaj, Hossein-Abadi said that all members of the two rings had been arrested after two months of intelligence operations.
"19 members of these two major drug bands, including main elements of their networks, have been arrested by the police," the commander noted.
He further stated that the seizure included a 3-ton cargo of opium and 633 kg of hashish, adding that 5 trailers as well as 8 cars were also seized by the police during the operations.
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 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) have embarked on a long-term countrywide plan to crack down on the drug trade since the beginning of the current Iranian year (starting on March 20).
Commander of the anti-drug squad of Iran's Law Enforcement Police announced early January that the country's police forces have discovered 340 tons of different types of illicit drugs during the last nine months.
"More than 340 tons of drugs have been seized all over Iran in the past nine months," Hossein-Abadi said at the time.
Iran lies on a transit corridor between opium producing Afghanistan and drug dealers in Europe.
The Islamic Republic has emerged as the leading country fighting drug trafficking after making 85 percent of the world's total opium seizures.
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