IRAN SEIZES TONS OF DRUGS IN RAID

TEHRAN, Iran - Anti-drug agents seized several tons of drugs in
eastern and southeastern Iran, the official Islamic Republic News
Agency reported Sunday.

It said 6,700 pounds of opium, 1,050 pounds of hashish, 110 pounds of
morphine and 110 pounds of heroin were seized from drug traffickers in
several raids.

Agents also confiscated more than 300 pounds of opium in a separate
operation in the northwestern city of Salmas, the agency said. IRNA
did not say when the drug raids occurred or if any arrests were made.

Large drug hauls are common in Iran, which lies on a route used by
smugglers to take drugs from Pakistan and Afghanistan to the oil-rich
Gulf and Europe.

Iran has been cracking down on drug smugglers since 1988. Hundreds of
traffickers have been hanged under a law that mandates the death
penalty for anyone caught with more than a small quantity of narcotics.