Iran, Pakistan pledge to exchange intelligence in combatting drug trafficking

Head of Iran Anti-Narc Police BG Iraj Kakavand meets Pakisrani counterpart MG Abdul Moeed. Pakistan.
IRNA

The Commander of Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Police Brigadier General Iraj Kakavand is in Pakistan to discuss increasing the bilateral cooperation against drug trafficking networks, particularly along their shared border.

Iran’s anti-narcotics met his Pakistani counterpart Major General Abdul Moeed and the Secretary of Narcotics Control Division at the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control Retired Captain Muhmmad Khurram Agha in Islamabad.

The two sides discussed issues of mutual interest and agreed to enhance intelligence cooperation to identify and fight drug trafficking networks and to strengthen border coordination according to official sources in Pakistan.

They pledged to take joint operational measures to combat cross-border drug trafficking and overcome challenges to prevent drug smuggling along the shared border, IRNA news agency reported.

According to UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), drug trafficking is a major challenge for Iran. The geographical location, particularly its porous border with Afghanistan - the world's largest illicit opium producer - and Pakistan, has turned Iran into a major transit hub for illegal drugs. 

In response to the serious challenge of narcotrafficking and border control, Iran has built one of the strongest counter-narcotics enforcement capabilities in the region over the years. 

The UNODC said in 2014, Iran by itself accounted for 74% of the world's opium seizures as well as 25% of the world's heroin and morphine seizures.

General Kakavand is also scheduled to visit the Anti-Narcotics Force Academy, an addiction treatment and rehabilitation center in Karachi, and the Karachi Port Trust authority.

Tehran spends millions of dollars annually on border control, including for the construction of expensive barriers along its borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

More than 3,700 national law enforcement officers have been killed and over 12,000 have been maimed in counter-narcotics operations over the last three decades, the UNODC said citing Iranian sources.

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