ZAHEDAN -- Chief of the Police Anti-drug Center Brigadier General Mahdi Abouei said here Thursday that increase of narcotics production in Afghanistan has led drug traffickers "to put a lot pressure on Iranian borders."

Speaking to reporters, he added that the high level of opium cultivation in the neighboring countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan and 'freedom of movement' given to drug smuggling gangs has also been an added effect in causing problems on Iran's borders. Abouie said it is estimated that the total amount of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan will top 3,500 tons this year, "most of which has been harvested." He further brushed aside claims made by some of the Western countries in combating narcotics trafficking, saying "Their policies have so far been ineffective."

"Unfortunately, we are witnessing efforts in processing opium, into heroin and morphine in Afghanistan," the drug czar said.

He said Iran's 'get tough' policies in combating trafficking has been effective in diverting drug smuggling from Iran to Central Asian countries.

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 3,000 members of Iranian armed forces have been killed in cross-border clashes with drug traffickers during the civil disorder in neighboring Afghanistan in the past 20 years.

According to official estimates, Iran's anti-drug campaign costs the country dlrs 800 million each year. Iran accounts for 80 percent of the opium and 90 percent of the morphine intercepted worldwide, according to the International Narcotics Control Board.