Almost a third of illicit drugs from Afghanistan are delivered to Europe via Iran

Almaty. July 10. Silkroadnews – Almost a third of illegal drugs from Afghanistan are transited to Europe via Iran, Xinhua agency reported referring to Tehran Times daily.
“International drug traffickers buy narcotics from Afghanistan and smuggle 30 percent of them through Iran to the European countries, Parviz Afshar, the head of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters, said”, the statement reads.
He noted, illicit drugs produced in Afghanistan are also smuggled to Western countries through the Caspian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
P. Afshar stressed the impossibility of abolishing the death penalty in Iran for crimes related to drug trafficking.
“P. Afshar pointed to the geographical location of Iran saying in the east his country borders on Afghanistan, where most of illicit drugs in the world are produced. Therefore, it is impossible to completely abolish the death penalty for drug trafficking in Iran. He also said that drug trafficking is harmful to the country’s economy”, the publication says.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2015 85% of opium and 77% of heroin in the world were produced in Afghanistan.