Eurasia Press & News
Two drug smugglers and an Iranian police officer were killed in shootouts outside a northeastern Iranian town that borders Afghanistan. Police arrested two others and seized more than (2,866 pounds of opium in the Bagh Rashid Mountains outside of Taibad, the TV reported on Saturday. It didn’t give further details including when the armed confrontation occurred.
The border region has been the scene of frequent clashes between police and drug smugglers.
Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states, and confiscation of large amounts of narcotics is common.
Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs. In 2006, Iranian authorities seized more than 300 tons of narcotics.
