Iranian security forces seized some 422 tons of various drugs in the 8-month period to Nov. 22, Parviz Afshar, spokesman with Iran Drug Control Headquarters said.

He said that the figure indicates a 21 percent increase compared to the first eight months of last Iranian fiscal year (March-Nov. 2014), Fars news agency reported Dec. 27.

Over 325.4 tons of opium was sized in the eight-month period, Afshar said, adding, Iranian security forces also seized some 61,766 kilograms of hashish and 10,890 kilograms of heroin, as well as 4961 kilograms of morphine and 1,375 kilograms of methamphetamine from drug traffickers in the period.

He further said that some 1,758 skirmishes took place between the smugglers and the security forces during the 8-month period.

At least 49 smugglers were killed in the operations, he said, adding some 164,263 people were also detained for drug smuggling in Iran in the first eight months of the current Iranian year as well.

It was reported that some 490 tons of drugs were seized in the country during the last fiscal year (ended on March 20).

The fight against drugs annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates. The statistics also say there are about two million drug users in Iran.

Last February, Rouzbeh Kardouni, the head of Social Vulnerabilities Office at the Iranian Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare said that annually about 450 tons of opium is used in Iran, which is equal to 42 percent of total opium consumption in the world.

/By Trend/