UN counter-drugs rep in Afghanistan calls Iran top transit point

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 30 – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) representation in Afghanistan announced that most illegal drugs smuggled from the country were ending up in Iran or being transited via there.
Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 30 – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) representation in Afghanistan announced that most illegal drugs smuggled from the country were ending up in Iran or being transited via there.

Initial studies show that the greatest demand for drugs from Afghanistan come from Iran, UNODC representative in Afghanistan Doris Buddenberg told reporters on Tuesday.

Her comments were reported in Iran’s state media on Thursday.

Buddenberg said that the drugs were being transited via Iran to European states and the North American continent.

Official surveys show that drug smuggling and sales in Iran is approximately a 10-billion-dollar market each year.

Previous estimates have put the total number of illegal-drug users in Iran at more than seven million.

Iran’s government is under close scrutiny for the level of narcotics found in Iranian cities. Many experts fear that certain departments and officials within the Iranian regime are overseeing foreign narcotics imports.