Iranian Prisons: A Monopoly of Power and Drugs Iran’s prisons hold thousands of death row inmates who are waiting for their freedom. In this place of great suffering and inhumanity, a large trade thrives. This trade is driven by the prisoners’ blood and pain, involving power and drugs. A recent report from Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, has been leaked. This prison, which holds over 16,000 inmates and operates like a closed-off city, is controlled by a powerful mafia. This mafia sets and controls the prices for food and drugs. According to female prisoners in Tabriz (West...