Iranian anti-drug police seized three tons of illicit narcotics in the southeastern province of Kerman in the past four weeks, the official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.

Hamid Gorizan, anti-drug police chief of the province, was quoted by IRNA as saying that three drug-traffickers were killed and 247 pieces of firearms were also seized in a raid.

Some 81 drug smugglers and distributors were also arrested, Gorizan added.

Drug addiction and transportation has been a serious social problem in Iran, a country sitting in the crossroad linking drug producing Afghanistan and Pakistan and markets in Persian Gulf states, central Asia, western Europe and other regions.

Official statistics said there are at least 2 million drug addicts in Iran.

The country also accounts for 80 percent of opium and 90 percent of morphine intercepted worldwide, according to the International Narcotics Control Board.

The Islamic Republic spends 5 billion US dollars annually on anti-drug programs, and over 3,100 policemen have lost their lives in conflict with drug smugglers over the past two decades.

Source: Xinhua