TEHRAN, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced on Saturday that Iranian security forces seized 618 kg of heroin in the south of the country.

The big haul of heroin was destined to Europe, said a ministry statement carried by official IRNA news agency.

The smugglers had hidden the illicit drugs inside the export commodities, it added.

Iran has long suffered from drug trafficking, as it is at the crossroads of international drug smuggling from Afghanistan, the world's top opium producer, to Europe.

Over the past decades, Iran's eastern and southeastern borders have seen clashes between Iranian security forces and armed drug smugglers.