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Police seizes three metric tons of opium in central Iran

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TEHRAN, July 26 (RIA Novosti) - Iranian police have confiscated about three metric tons of opium being transported by truck in the country's central province of Isfahan, local media said Thursday.

Two suspects have been arrested in the raid on charges of transporting and distributing drugs, and in line with Iranian law they will be subject to the death penalty if found guilty.

The suspects said that most of the confiscated drugs was intended for distribution in Iran, while the rest was planned for transport to Europe via Turkey.

According to Iran's law enforcement agencies, about 30% of the drugs produced annually in neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan are smuggled into Iran, with about half of that amount remaining in the country and the rest transiting to other countries.

Last year, according to statistics, Iranian law enforcement agencies confiscated some 420 metric tons of drugs, which was a 24% increase over the previous year.

Although officially unacknowledged, Iran has developed a serious drug addiction problem in recent years, largely as a result of the influx of opium and heroin from Afghanistan.

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