Sep 26, 2019

Iran has seized 8.8 tonnes of narcotics destined for Europe and uncovered one of the country's largest trafficking rings, police sa

id Thursday.

"This huge narcotics shipment, which was hidden in a petrol tanker and reached here via Iran's eastern border, was supposed to be offloaded and then smuggled to European countries," state television reported from the northwestern city of Urmia, not far from the Turkish border.

Iran's deputy police chief Ayoub Soleimani said the shipment comprised 3.5 tonnes of morphine and 5.3 tonnes of opium.

He said that nine suspected traffickers were arrested with an additional 20 kilogrammes of heroin and 130 firearms in their possession.