Tasnim � The Iranian Coast Guard has captured a big haul of opium off the coast of the southwestern port city of Bandar Mahshahr, a Police commander said.

The commander of the Iranian Border Police in the province of Khuzestan told Tasnim on Thursday that the drug haul was confiscated after broad intelligence activities in the Persian Gulf�s northern waters.

The Police forces captured two light fishing boats filled with illicit drugs in the operation, General Lotfali Pakbaz said, noting that 1,588 kilograms of opium was found in the two boats.

The traffickers had plans to smuggle the haul of drugs into Iran, he said, adding that three people have been arrested in the operation.

In comments on July 9, Iran�s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said 3,815 Iranian law enforcement forces have lost their lives and over 12,000 others have been wounded in the war on drug trafficking over the past 40 years.

In the past three decades, Iran has seized approximately 11,000 tons of different types of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, he added, saying that in 2018 alone, Iranian forces carried out 1,557 operations against drug traffickers, seizing approximately 807 tons of different types of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

According to the �World Drug Report 2019� of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2017, Iran had seized �the largest quantity of opiates � accounting for 39 per cent of the global total,� the envoy stated.