Growth of industrial drug output in Afghanistan alarms Iran

Vienna: Secretary-General of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters Eskandar Momeni said on Tuesday that Iran has been alarmed by growth of industrial drug of methamphetamine output in Afghanistan.

If nothing is done about that, the regional and Western countries will be badly harmed, Eskandar Momeni said, adding that production of industrial narcotics had reached 9,000 tons from 200 tons a year in Afghanistan is alarming for the International Community.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Head of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Jean-Luc Lemahieu.

Momeni said that in the first half of the year 2019, the Islamic Republic of Iran Police have carried out 2,000 combat operations against drug-traffickers which led to seizure of about 580 tons of narcotics, including 30 tons of morphine and heroin.

Iran’s anti-narcotics chief said that Afghanistan made dramatic growth in import of precursors and building many laboratories for producing industrial narcotics, especially methamphetamine.

Iranian Police have seized about 10 tons of methamphetamine, which shows six-fold growth compared to that of last year.

He added that Iran is one of the most important partners of UNODC, but sanctions on Iran have caused difficulty in the process of fighting drug-trafficking.

To do its share, the International Community can help Iran which is on the front line of the international campaign against drug-traffickers and the fight against the ominous phenomenon, he said.

Iran and UNODC signed MoU on Tuesday on creating regional center aiming to promote the capacity to cure disorders caused by narcotics.

Momeni added that the center will open in Tehran in matter of one or two-month.Lemahieu said that the document is of great importance and shows Iran’s excellent activities for reducing demand for the industrial drug.

He hoped that Iran’s capabilities and potentials to reduce demand and share information about HIV would be used in the reign as well.