Anti-drug police in northern Iranian province of Golestan province have discovered opium hidden on the abdomen of four 12-year boys, the Persian daily Jomhouri Eslami said Tuesday, as quoted by the Iranian official news agency (IRNA).
The paper said that police had grown suspicious of the tanagers following a recent drug seizure from six other minors who were carrying 2.6 kgs of opium the same way.
Drug traffickers, knowing about children's immunity from prosecution, use them in the illegal activities, Jomhouri Eslami added. They resort to many other tricks to dodge police checking, including ingesting drugs, in the face of the mounting security measures taken by the Iranian police.
Official reports say more than 3,100 Iranian police officers have lost their lives in drug-related battles throughout Iran over the past twenty years. According to official estimates, Iran's anti-drug campaign costs the country 800 million dollars per year.
Iran is a corridor for drugs smuggled from central Asia to Europe and the oil-rich Gulf states. However, earlier reports have said that at least six million Iranians deal with drugs one way or another. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
