| Date | 3 November 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location | Langarud, Gilan province, Iran |
| Type | Structure fire |
| Deaths | 32 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 16 |
On 3 November 2023, a fire broke out in a drug rehabilitation center in Langarud, Iran, killing at least 32 people and injuring 16. [1]
Iran has one of the world's highest rates of opiate use, with an estimated 2.8 million users according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. [2] The country also lies on the main trafficking route for poppy, the source of opium and heroin, from Afghanistan to Europe. [3] A UN drug report in 2023 said that 47% of global heroin and morphine seizures originating from Afghanistan in 2020 came from Iran. [1]
The center, which was named the "The First Step Toward Freedom", [2] catered to opium addicts [3] and was designed to accommodate up to 40 people. However, deputy governor of Gilan province Mohammad Jalai said that the facility was overcrowded at the time of the fire. [1]
The fire broke out in the early morning of 3 November 2023 and then spread across the center, resulting in the roof collapsing. The chief justice of Gilan told local media that at least 32 people had been killed while 16 others were hospitalized. [1] Four of the injured were described as in critical condition. [2]
Jalai told Fars news agency that the blaze appeared to have been caused by a heater which caught fire and set nearby curtains alight. [2] The center's manager and several others were arrested as part of the investigation. [1]
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the dried latex of the Papaver somniferum plant and is mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical-grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown powders sold illegally around the world as heroin are routinely diluted with cutting agents. Black tar heroin is a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), which is the result of crude acetylation during clandestine production of street heroin. Heroin is used medically in several countries to relieve pain, such as during childbirth or a heart attack, as well as in opioid replacement therapy.
Opium is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off and dehydrated. The word meconium historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies.
The Golden Crescent is the name given to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium production. Located at the crossroads of Central, South, and West Asia, this space covers the mountainous peripheries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, extending into eastern Iran.
The following lists events that happened during 2000 in Afghanistan.
The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking. Books and investigations on the subject that have received general notice include works by the historian Alfred McCoy, professor and diplomat Peter Dale Scott, journalists Gary Webb and Alexander Cockburn, and writer Larry Collins. These claims have led to investigations by the United States government, including hearings and reports by the United States House of Representatives, Senate, Department of Justice, and the CIA's Inspector General.
The Taliban insurgency began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces fought against the Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, and later by President Ashraf Ghani, and against a US-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani. The private sector in Pakistan extends financial aid to the Taliban, contributing to their financial sustenance.
Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. As of 2021, Afghanistan's harvest produces more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply. More land is used for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country has been the world's leading illicit drug producer since 2001. In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. By 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market. This amounts to an export value of about US $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers. In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families. As of 2017, opium production provides about 400,000 jobs in Afghanistan, more than the Afghan National Security Forces. In addition to opium, Afghanistan is also the world's leading producer of hashish.
The following lists events that happened during 2002 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2004 in Afghanistan.
This article deals with activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency related to transnational crime, including the illicit drug trade.
Mohammed Daud Daud, also known as General Daud Daud, an ethnic Tajik, was the police chief in northern Afghanistan and the commander of the 303 Pamir Corps. He was an opponent of the Afghan Taliban.
The Ciudad Juárez rehab center attack was a shooting that occurred at 7:15 pm on September 2, 2009, at the El Aliviane drug treatment clinic in the city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Seventeen men were killed in the attack, and another died the following day from injuries, bringing the total killed to eighteen.
The 2009 Taldykorgan fire occurred on 13 September 2009, when at least 38 people were killed in a fire at a drug abuse clinic in Taldykorgan, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan. At least 10 others were re-hospitalised after the fire. Two of the dead were staff, the other 36 were patients. The building dates from 1951. The cause of the blaze is unknown.
2003 in Afghanistan. A list of notable incidents in Afghanistan during 2003
The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Afghanistan.
Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.
On 2 March 2018, a fire broke out at the Republican Narcological Dispensary in Baku, Azerbaijan, a drug rehabilitation facility for patients with opiate addiction.
The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Islamic State and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The conflict escalated when militants who were affiliated with Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed Abdul Ghani, a senior Taliban commander in Logar province on 2 February 2015. Since then, the Taliban and IS-KP have engaged in clashes over the control of territory, mostly in eastern Afghanistan, but clashes have also occurred between the Taliban and IS-KP cells which are located in the north-west and south-west.
Events in the year 2023 in Iran, which is dominated by protests.
