Tehran, Baku Discuss Joint Operations against Drug Trafficking

Iran's Anti-Narcotics Police Chief Brigadier General Mohammad Masoud Zahedian and his Azeri counterpart Major General Hazi Aslanov, in a meeting in Baku, exchanged views on joint operations against drug cartels, and voiced their respective countries’ determination to fight against the heinous phenomenon.

In the meeting, which was held in on Wednesday, Aslanov briefed his Iranian counterpart with a comprehensive report on the measures taken by the police forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the fight against crimes such as drug trafficking in this country.

For his part, Brigadier General Zahedian termed cooperation and exchange of experiences between police forces of the two neighboring countries ‘important’ and stated, “Iran’s police force is interested in expanding and developing bilateral cooperation with Azerbaijani in addition to cooperation in the fight against crimes and criminal activities.”

Zahedian further expressed hope that such bilateral meetings would help develop relations between interior ministries of the two countries.

The Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug trades originating from its eastern neighbors in the past four decades, despite its high economic and human costs. 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.

In June, Police Chief of Sistan and Baluchistan province Brigadier General Mohammad Qanbari said some 2 tons and 518kg of different drugs were seized when the police force busted a gang attempting to smuggle the drugs into the country through Saravan borders.

Three smugglers have been arrested during the operation, in addition to confiscating 1,922kg opium, 230kg morphine, 323kg hashish, 43kg and 460g heroin and some amount of ammunition, he added.

Back in May, Head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Department of International Cooperation for Countering Terrorism and Extremism Hossein Maleki said, "Unfortunately, the US unilateral economic sanctions against Iran will leave negative impacts on the process of confrontation against the drug traffickers and will create problems in regional and international cooperation in this field."

Earlier in May, Secretary General of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni announced that 800 tons of trafficked narcotics were annually discovered and seized in the country, adding that a major portion of these cargoes were destined for Europe.

"Annually, over 800 tons of drugs are discovered in Iran a major part of which is due to be used (by traffickers) for transit towards Europe," General Momeni told reporters in Alborz province near Tehran.

He added that Iran spent over 11% of its gross national product for direct and indirect expenses on campaign against illicit drugs, and expressed concern that the US sanctions against Iran which pressure the country economically would leave negative impacts on Tehran's anti-narcotics efforts.

Iran is in the forefront of the fight against drug trafficking and thousands of Iranian police forces have been so far martyred to protect the world from the danger of drugs.

The Iranian anti-narcotic police have always staged periodic operations against drug traffickers and dealers, but 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) has embarked on a long-term countrywide plan to crack down on the drug trade since more than a decade ago.

Fars News Agency