Iranian Police Arrest 109 Drug Dealers, 600 Addicts in Tehran District

Iran’s police have arrested 109 drug dealers and 600 addicts in Damavand district in northeastern Tehran during raids conducted since March, the local police chief said Sunday. 

"Eighty percent of those arrested are not from Tehran," Colonel Saeed Kasravi told the official Iranian news agency, IRNA.  

He said nearly six kilograms of narcotics had also been seized during the same period.  

Earlier this month, police arrested 150 male and 11 female drug addicts and dealers in a northern Tehran park known as Lavizan, said the agency.  

In February, anti-drug squads arrested some 1,000 drug traffickers in a shoddy Tehran neighborhood known as a center for distribution of 75 percent of all narcotics in the capital and other Iranian cities, as well as a haven for thieves and criminals. 

They have also succeeded in reining in some 50 druglords and heads of drug distribution networks.  

Iran sits on the crossroads of the international drug trade and plays an important role in intercepting drug transfers. 

According to official reports, some 3,100 Iranian police officers have lost their lives in drug-related battles throughout the country over the past twenty years – Albawaba.com