Скачать или смотреть IRAN: MAJOR CRACKDOWN ON DRUGS TRAFFICKING

(26 Jun 1996) Farsi/Nat

Nearly 10,000 people have been arrested in a month-long crackdown against drug trafficking in Iran, according to state-run radio.

The operation is part of an ongoing fight against the narcotics trade in the Islamic Republic which has been faced with a burgeoning drugs problem for more than a decade.

Since Iran introduced mass arrests of addicts and the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking in 1988, tens of thousands of addicts have been rounded up and sent to hard labor camps while thousands of smugglers have been hanged.

The latest announcement was timed to coincide with today's (Wednesday) International Day of Anti-Drug Campaigns when Iranian authorities plan to burn 15 tonnes of confiscated drugs.

Waging the war against drugs on Iran's eastern borders, these soldiers patrol what the Islamic Republic regards as its front line against narcotics entering the country.

Iran blames its drug problem on Pakistan and Afghanistan - the vast and open desert plains an ideal transport route for the international trafficker.

It says drug barons in neighbouring countries smuggle contraband through its territory to markets in the Gulf and Europe.

In the latest purge against drug trafficking Iran radio has reported a significant number of weapons seized, more than 6,000 kilogrammes of drugs recovered and 13 big drug rings destroyed.

Iran claims to be winning the fight against the drugs problem but its penalties are harsh for traffickers and addicts alike.

Suspects and convicts invariably end up in the Gharchak Rehabilitation Centre near Tehran where they receive treatment for their addiction.

But conditions are basic and the so-called rehabilitation centre is like a prison.

SOUNDBITE: (Farsi)
"There are lots of deficiencies in our lives. There is not a lot going for our spirits, for our minds, no entertainment, nothing good to read, no good future in sight."
VOX POP

The drugs themselves end up on the bonfire - the traffickers' potential profits going up in smoke.

But with an ever-increasing demand for drugs in the West the smugglers seem willing to continue to risk all. And despite Iran's high-profile campaign the war against drugs goes on.

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