TEHRAN – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has seized a vessel carrying 757,000 liters of smuggled fuel in the Persian Gulf.

The smugglers intended to transfer the consignment to another country, IRIB quoted IRGC official Ramezan Zirahi as saying on Saturday.

Seven crew members of the vessel have been handed out to authorities for further investigation.

Some 1.555 million liters of smuggled fuel worth 400 billion rials (about $1.33 million) have been seized since the start of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21). The smuggled consignment is estimated to value 222 billion rials (about $730,000), the report added.

Some 1.555 million liters of smuggled fuel worth 400 billion rials (about $1.33 million) have been seized since the start of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21) and 24 smugglers have been arrested in this regard.

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.

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