ONE TON OF NARCOTICS TO BE BURNT IN HORMUZGAN PROVINCE

BANDAR ABBAS - An official in the Hormuzgan Anti-Narcotics Committee
Mansour Nabizadeh said here Saturday that one ton of drugs will be burnt in
the southern province on Monday.

Speaking at a gathering of the committee, he said that the major portion of
the haul consists of heroin and hashish which, he added, would be burnt
publicly on the beach.

"The move is in line with efforts to raise public awareness of the drug
menace and soothe a feeling of despair and disappointment vis-a-vis the
anti-drug policy," he said.

Meawhile, half-a-ton of drugs were burned in a symbolic gesture in the
central city of Yazd.

Iran is a major route for smuggling drugs from Afghanistan and Pakistan to
markets in the Persian Gulf, Europe and beyond. Opium, heroin, hashish and
morphine are hauled through the country and single busts involving a ton or
more of drugs are not uncommon.

Iranian authorities stepped up surveillance along the country's borders by
ordering the setting up of outposts and an electronically monitored barbed
wire fence along the 945-kilometer border with Afghanistan. A budget of 200
billion rials (dlrs 25 million) was allocated for the project.

Official reports say 3,100 Iranian police officers have been killed in
drug-related battles throughout Iran over the past twenty years.