TEHRAN – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy detained a foreign tanker smuggling 11 million liters of fuel in the Persian Gulf, Mehr reported on Monday. 

Mojtaba Qahramani, the chief justice of Hormozgan province, has said forces from the first naval district of the IRGC seized the oil tanker. 

The tanker was seized after a month of careful technical and intelligence work, Qahramani said, adding that the captain and crew of the tanker are held to complete an investigation into the matter and conduct due legal procedures.

Over the current calendar year, which began on March 21,2022, Iran has announced several times the detention of foreign ships involved in smuggling Iranian fuel.

In August, 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. 

Twelve crew members of the vessel were detained for investigation. The smuggled fuel was 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) had been confiscated across the country in line with the plan to combat the smuggling of goods and currency.

In April, the chief justice of Hormozgan announced the detention by the IRGC Navy of a foreign ship carrying 220,000 liters of smuggled fuel in the Persian Gulf.

“In coordination with the judicial authorities, the Zulfiqar Naval Brigade of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps monitored and arrested a foreign ship carrying smuggled fuel in the waters of the Persian Gulf,” Mojtaba Qahramani, head of Hormozgan province's justice department, said in a press statement. 

He added, “During the inspection of this ship, more than 220,000 liters of smuggled fuel were seized and 11 members of the foreign crew were arrested.”

Qahramani said at the time the arrest of the smugglers would help complete the “investigation and legal procedures”.
In May, the commander of the border guards in the coastal province announced the seizure of another ship smuggling 550,000 liters of fuel.

Colonel Hossein Dahki said in a press statement that “during an operation in the protected area, the border guards at the Bandar Langeh naval base, in cooperation with the border guards in Bushehr province, succeeded in spotting a ship carrying smuggled fuel to the east of Maru Island.”

“During the inspection of the ship, the border guards were able to find 550,000 liters of smuggled diesel, and arrested 7 smugglers in this regard,” he stated, adding plans are underway to combat smuggling of fuel and goods, clean up polluted areas, and fight smugglers across the border strip in the coastal province.