Taliban narcotics traffic seized leaving Iran port

Independent on Sunday:

Worsening tension between Iran and the West has been given a new twist by the revelation that the Royal Navy and allied forces have intercepted smuggled narcotics worth more than £800m coming out of Iranian ports. Much of the money, it is claimed, helps to fund the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Although raids on drugs-carrying dhows have been going on for several months near the sensitive Straits of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Gulf, they have only now been made public. According to military sources, the dhows carrying the narcotics are loaded in a number of small Iranian ports, but Tehran strenuously denies being involved in the illicit trade. It says any Western allegation of a link to trafficking is propaganda, partly aimed at justifying its large-scale naval presence in the area.

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British warships – the frigates HMS Chatham and HMS Montrose, the destroyer HMS Edinburgh and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus – intercepted 23 tons of narcotics, out of a total of 70 tons recovered by US and other coalition forces. Officials said this represented a significant increase in smuggling through the Straits of Hormuz.

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It is hard to say whether the transit of drugs through Iran is with their active assistance or just their incompetence.. It should be noted that on of Iran's main allies of late is Hugo Chavez of Venezuela who has been accused of facilitating narcotics traffic from Colombia.