Speaking to a gathering of reporters, the State Security Forces commander, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, hinted today that such a large quantity of drugs in circulation might raise questions that drug smuggling has become institutionalized.
Qalibaf’s announcement came at a time when certain departments and officials within the Iranian regime are suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking.
In the interview, Major Ghodratollah Mahmoudi, the head of the Office to Combat Narcotics in Greater Tehran, said on Wednesday that in the past nine months alone more than 700 kg of narcotics had been confiscated from addicts in the capital, adding that this figure did not include the much larger amounts of narcotics “discovered in the hands of drug lords”.
The total number of illegal-drug users in Iran is estimated to be more than seven million.
