Second Brigadier General Ali Akbar Javidan made the announcement, saying that following comprehensive intelligence activities, police forces of the province have identified and dismantled a drug band that distributed opium in Kermanshah.

The police chief noted that the consignment was discovered in a truck on which had entered Kermanshah from the eastern provinces.

One smuggler has been seized in this regard, in addition to confiscation of 521 kilograms of opium, he said.

670 kilograms of narcotics have been busted in the province since the beginning of the New Year in Iran (starting March 20) which indicates a 51 percent increase compared to the corresponding period last year, he added.

6 drug-trafficking bands have been dismantled in the province in the same period, Javidan said.

These sorts of operations are usual for Iran which is a neighbor to the source of drugs, Afghanistan. The Islamic Republic has been combating drug-traffickers for the past decades despite high economic and human costs. 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.

Commander of Sistan and Baluchestan Border police Guards Colonel Mohammad Mollashahi said on Monday that some 834 kilograms of narcotics were seized in two separate operations in the province, one in Saravan.

Some 505 kilograms of opium were confiscated last night when the police force entered a gun battle with a gang attempting to smuggle the drugs into the country through the southern border, he said.

According to Mollashahi, the smugglers escaped using the darkness of the night.

Following a series of intelligence operations, 304 kilograms hashish and 30 kilograms opium were seized in another operation, he said.

Three smugglers have been arrested in this regard and handed over to the judicial officials and two vehicles along with a number of different weapons were captured, he added.

Over 20 tons of different illicit drugs were captured in Sistan and Baluchestan province during the past month.

The Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past three decades, despite its high economic and human costs. The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades. The country has spent more than hundreds of millions of dollars on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.