Iran: Official says over 5,000 "drug mules" arrested last year.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Tehran, 1 January: Presidential Adviser and Secretary-General of an Anti-Narcotics Headquarters Ali Hashemi said here Wednesday [1 January] that over 5,000 people who had ingested narcotics - drug mules - were arrested in the last Iranian year which ended on 20 March.

Despite the considerable resources expended on strengthening border security and greater pressure on the smugglers domain of operations, illicit drugs are still entering Iran, Hashemi said. He said the high drug smuggling profits on one hand and an amalgamation of political, economic and international factors, on the other, have contributed to the continuation of the trend in drug trafficking. He also referred to the costs borne by Iran in its fight against drugs trafficking citing 2,000bn rials for beefing up border security'.

Hashemi said in the past two decades Iranian law enforcement organs have arrested over 2.5m smugglers, agents and dealers who have stretched thin the resources of the country with adverse social ramifications for the nation. He said the headquarters is facing some snags in securing the 60 billion rials or so of its allotted budget. "We hope with assistance of the president, these hurdles will be removed."

Referring to the latest development in Afghanistan in combating drug trafficking, he added if the international assistance is rendered to the war-torn country, then, 'the grounds will also be prepared for a ban on poppy cultivation in the country'. He said the estimate rate of 2,500 to ...