Majlis Dispatches Mission to Drug-Stricken City
November 22, 2000 - 0:0
ZAHEDAN, Sistan-Baluchestan Province A delegation of the Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Parliament (Majlis) arrived in this southeastern city on Tuesday for an inspection tour of the region where drug trafficking is rampant.
The head and deputy head of the committee, Mohsen Mirdamadi and Mohsen Armin, respectively, as well as other members of the delegation visited an exhibition showcasing narcotic drug confiscations by police in the province.
The province's deputies in Majlis, along with its governor, accompanied the group. The provincial Commander of Law Enforcement Forces in Sistan-Baluchestan, Brigadier Nasser Shabani, presented a report on the security situation in the region.
He said the police have managed to seize 24 tons of narcotics in the province in this Iranian year (started March 2000) and arrested some 37 bandits and drug traffickers.
Shabani said security in the province was precarious given its closeness to the major drug producers of the world, the length of borders which it shares with those countries, the religious composition of the region which is divided between a Sunni Muslim majority and a Shiite minority and other minor ethnic groups.
He cited the cultural deprivation, high rate of unemployment and meagre infrastructure developments of the region as among the factors causing insecurity.
Shabani said that the country, since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, has already spent over 900 million dollars to increase the province's fortifications and check the flow of narcotics into the region.
He said over 350,000 Afghans live in Sistan-Baluchestan, and that studies indicate that some 24.6 percent of offenses committed in the province can be traced to foreign nationals.
The commander said that five Afghans were arrested in the city of Zabol last week suspected of forgery.
So far, some 1115 policemen have been martyred in clashes with drug traffickers in the province, he said.
Iran has embarked on a single-handed anti-drug campaign since its revolution. The country lies on the international transit route of drug traffickers whose activities start from the so-called "Golden Crescent" and end up in Europe and Arab countries.
In spite of the vigilance of Iranian police, narcotics and other dangerous drugs slip their attention and end up in European or Arab markets. Sadly, Europe has given only lip service to Iranian efforts to curb the trade and has committed very little in financial help.
The head and deputy head of the committee, Mohsen Mirdamadi and Mohsen Armin, respectively, as well as other members of the delegation visited an exhibition showcasing narcotic drug confiscations by police in the province.
The province's deputies in Majlis, along with its governor, accompanied the group. The provincial Commander of Law Enforcement Forces in Sistan-Baluchestan, Brigadier Nasser Shabani, presented a report on the security situation in the region.
He said the police have managed to seize 24 tons of narcotics in the province in this Iranian year (started March 2000) and arrested some 37 bandits and drug traffickers.
Shabani said security in the province was precarious given its closeness to the major drug producers of the world, the length of borders which it shares with those countries, the religious composition of the region which is divided between a Sunni Muslim majority and a Shiite minority and other minor ethnic groups.
He cited the cultural deprivation, high rate of unemployment and meagre infrastructure developments of the region as among the factors causing insecurity.
Shabani said that the country, since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, has already spent over 900 million dollars to increase the province's fortifications and check the flow of narcotics into the region.
He said over 350,000 Afghans live in Sistan-Baluchestan, and that studies indicate that some 24.6 percent of offenses committed in the province can be traced to foreign nationals.
The commander said that five Afghans were arrested in the city of Zabol last week suspected of forgery.
So far, some 1115 policemen have been martyred in clashes with drug traffickers in the province, he said.
Iran has embarked on a single-handed anti-drug campaign since its revolution. The country lies on the international transit route of drug traffickers whose activities start from the so-called "Golden Crescent" and end up in Europe and Arab countries.
In spite of the vigilance of Iranian police, narcotics and other dangerous drugs slip their attention and end up in European or Arab markets. Sadly, Europe has given only lip service to Iranian efforts to curb the trade and has committed very little in financial help.