IRAN ARRESTS THOUSANDS OF ADDICTS

TEHRAN -- Police have carried out a major crackdown on drug trafficking and
abuse during the past week, arresting 11,892 addicts and traders, and
killing nine traffickers in shootouts, Iran's official news agency said
yesterday.

Police confiscated 885 kg of drugs in the four-day sweep conducted across
the nation, the Islamic Republic News Agency said.

The secretary general of Iran's anti-drug department, Mohammad Fallah, said
Iran has 1.2 million drug addicts and another 800,000 occasional drug
users. Fallah said that 3,111 Iranian police officers and soldiers have
been killed in clashes with traffickers since 1979.