BUSHEHR Contrabands worth over Rls.70 billion were nabbed in this southern province during the first six-month period of the current calendar year which started on March 20, the provincial police chief announced on Monday.
Reza Zare'i told reporters that a considerable drop is seen in the amount of uncovered contrabands compared to that of the preceding year. He declined to reveal the previous year's amount.
The contrabands included household electrical appliances, cigarettes, oil products and so on.
Last month it was reported that some $3 billion worth of contrabands is annually entering Iran, $1 billion of which is covered by cigarettes.
"Currently 45 billion cigarettes are smoked annually in Iran that 30 billion of which are smuggled into the country without giving any taxes to the government," Hossein Nassiri, the secretary of Supreme Council of Free Trade Zones (FTZs) said.
Iran enjoys three main FTZs, including Chabahar port on the Oman Sea, and Kish and Qeshm islands in the Persian Gulf.
Zare'i revealed a 35 percent increase in suicide attempts which soared to 27 in the current year.
"In the same period, 554 cases of robbery were also reported," Zare'i said, adding that, "robberies were dropped by 36 cases in the period." He said that during the same period, 450 kilograms of morphine-based drugs were seized and 1,200 drug dealers and addicts were arrested.
He laid the blame on unemployment for entrapping the youth in drug addiction.
Iran is a transit point in the transfer of illicit drugs from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan to markets in the Middle East and Europe.
Officials announced last month they would deploy two elite police regiments along the border with Afghanistan in added efforts to curb drug trafficking.
In 1999, 740 drug dealers and 174 Iranian police officers were killed in narcotics-related confrontations, according to government.
(IRNA)