MASHHAD -- Police officers in Khorasan Province have confiscated 156.5kg of narcotic drugs throughout the province during recent days.

The Khorasan police reported Wednesday the seizure of the narcotics in Ferdows, Mashhad and Sabzevar cities, during separated operations.

During the operations, five vehicles were also seized and 11 traffickers arrested.

Located in the vicinity of Afghanistan, Khorasan is frequently used by drug traffickers as a transit route for their drug shipments.

Iran lies on an international drugs trade route, which originates from Afghanistan and Pakistan and stretches as far as the Persian Gulf, Arab states, Europe and beyond.

More than 3,100 members of Iranian Armed Forces have been killed in cross-border clashes with drug traffickers during disorder in neighboring Afghanistan in the past 20 years.

According to official estimates, Iran's anti-drug campaign costs the country 800 million dollars each year.