Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2001
Source: Times of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan)
Copyright: 2001 The Times of Central Asia
Contact:  http://www.times.kg/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1202

POLICE ARREST 3,000 DRUG ADDICTS, DEALERS IN TEHRAN

TEHRAN. In a move to observe June 26 marking the International drug control 
day, Iranian police have rounded up over 3,000 drug addicts and traffickers 
in the capital, Tehran police chief said Monday.

Brigadier General Mohsen Ansari told reporters that the round-up of dealers 
and addicts was aimed at cleaning up the drug-infested places and arrest of 
repeat offenders.

"More than fifty kilos of narcotics and some 4,000 small plastic bags of 
heroin, known here as "20-cm joints" were confiscated in the operations," 
he said.

Ansari said the operation was launched simultaneously at 150 suspected 
spots, including city parks and cozy corners where such people often 
gather, such as certain coffee and tea houses in some shabby parts of the city.

He thanked the Revolutionary Court of Tehran for its close cooperation 
within the framework of anti-drug fights launched by police.

He also announced the a complementary cultural and propagation maneuver, 
dubbed the Valadiyat IV, is to be launched in Tehran on June 27 and 28 in 
which the police would cooperate with the volunteer Basij forces.

The main objective of the above-mentioned operation will be to acquire 
information that can lead to arresting more such criminals and to answer 
the people's related questions.

The Val Adiyat VI Operation will be launched in 100 areas in Tehran.

Brigadier General Ansari did not elaborate on police plans for June 26, the 
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Getting access to heroin is believed to have become really easy in Iran in 
recent months and the price of a "20-cm pack" of it is rock bottom low (as 
low as a bottle of milk), although the price of opium has gone 
sky-rocketing high and its availability, too, is said to be really low.

Iran is a major route for smuggling drugs from Afghanistan and Pakistan to 
markets in the Persian Gulf, Europe and beyond. Opium, heroin, hashish and 
morphine are hauled through the country and single busts involving a ton or 
more of drugs are not uncommon.

Iranian authorities stepped up surveillance along the country's borders by 
ordering the setting up of outposts and an electronically monitored barbed 
wire fence along the 945-kilometer border with Afghanistan. A budget of 200 
billion rials (dlrs 25 million) was allocated for the project.

Official reports say 3,100 Iranian police officers have been killed in 
drug-related battles throughout Iran over the past twenty years.
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