IRANIAN POLICE SEIZE HEROIN, OPIUM

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iranian troops seized 150
kilograms (330 pounds) of heroin and 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of
opium in southeastern Iran, Iranian radio reported Thursday.

The drugs were seized in the southeast border province of
Sistan-Baluchestan, and were the largest heroin haul found in the
area, said the broadcast monitored by the British Broadcasting
Corporation.

Quoting the secretary of Iran's anti-drug organization, Mohammad
Fallah, it said Tehran was spending nearly dlrs 1 billion annually on
its anti-drug campaign.

Large drug hauls are common in Iran, which lies on a smuggling route
from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the oil-rich Gulf and Europe. Most of
the seized drugs are hashish, opium and heroin.

Iran has been cracking down on drug smugglers since 1988, hanging
hundreds caught with more than a small quantity of narcotics.