TEHRAN – The Iranian authorities seized a vessel carrying 277,000 liters of smuggled fuel in the waters around Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf.

The smugglers intended to transfer the consignment to one of the Persian Gulf littoral states, IRIB reported on Wednesday.

Every year, $20-25 billion worth of goods are smuggled in and out of the country.Twelve crew members of the vessel have been detained for further investigation. The smuggled fuel is worth 61 billion rials (about $200,000), the report added.

Jalal Amini, head of the anti-trafficking police, said in July that smuggled goods worth 2 trillion rials (nearly $7.1 million) have been confiscated across the country through the third stage of the plan to combat the smuggling of goods and currency.

In order to help domestic production, the fight against smuggling is underway continuously through monitoring of goods (origin and destination), implementation of plans, periodic and intermittent inspections of roads, etc. are on the agenda by the anti-trafficking police throughout the country, he explained.

The smuggled goods include basic goods, home appliances, electronic and medical equipment, car, cosmetics, clothes, and currencies, IRIB reported.

He went on to say that 1,037 accused were arrested and presented to judicial authorities, and 622 vehicles were seized.

Every year, $20-25 billion worth of goods are smuggled in and out of the country, which, if stopped, will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, MP Hassan Norouzi has said.

Mohammad Hassan Nejad, a member of the Majlis (the Iranian parliament) energy committee, says the smuggled fuel amounts to 22 million liters per day. With a 50 cent per liter profit, the total daily income adds up to 400 trillion rials annually or $3.3 billion, nearly the same as the country's annual development budget.

In June 2020, the first phase of the national anti-smuggling plan was implemented with the priority of customs, tobacco, and transit goods nationwide.

MG