13 Billion Dollars: The Volume of Smuggling in 2016

Qasem Khorshidi, spokesman for the Central Headquarters for the Fight Against Smuggling of Goods and Currency, on Tuesday, April 3, pointed out that the volume of smuggling in the past year was "about 13 billion dollars," considering the confiscations of smuggling in the past year as a "record" for the Islamic Republic. According to Fars News Agency, Khorshidi announced that the priority of the Central Headquarters for the Fight Against Smuggling of Goods and Currency is "to combat large-scale and organized smuggling" and added that the number of smuggling gangs discovered by the police was 1,200, which represents a growth of more than 93% compared to 2015. This statistic was announced at a time when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, had spoken in May 2016 about the necessity of fighting against smuggling. According to media reports in Iran, smuggling of goods and currency is considered one of the obstacles to the growth of legal production and trade, and combating smuggling is on the agenda of various agencies. In this context, the Headquarters for the Fight Against Smuggling of Goods and Currency was established in 2002 by the order of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with the aim of "creating a central hub for combating smuggling of goods and currency." According to Fars, Khorshidi emphasized that a significant volume of confiscations is related to the discovery of container smuggling, adding: "Based on initial information estimates, the total confiscations of smuggling in 2016 was about 14 trillion tomans. Previously, Amir Khajasteh, head of the Economic Corruption Combat Fraternity in Parliament, warned the head of the Anti-Smuggling Organization on February 3, stating: "Three thousand containers of smuggled goods enter Iran daily." Khorshidi also mentioned the need to combat the practice of 'teh-lanj' (smuggling through ships) and 'kolbari' (carrying goods across borders). He reported on the role of some representatives and governors in the issue of smuggling into the country, stating: "We have given dozens of written and verbal warnings, but representatives are looking for their votes and governors are concerned about not raising the voice of protest." The spokesman for the Central Headquarters for the Fight Against Smuggling of Goods and Currency noted that 3.8 billion dollars worth of smuggling enters Iran through teh-lanj and the goods accompanying sailors. Previously, Mehdi Pourfathami, a member of parliament from Dashti and Tangestan, criticized the government's restrictions on teh-lanj in a letter to Es'hagh Jahangiri, the first vice president of Iran, stating: "Alongside the activities of 300,000 ships, some people also earn a living from teh-lanj in Bushehr province, and it can be said that the lives of 300,000 residents of this province are directly or indirectly tied to the issue of teh-lanj." Restrictions on the entry of teh-lanj and accompanying goods were implemented following a letter from the head of Iran's customs in the last days of 2015 to the head of the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters in southern ports. After similar protests that were also reflected in Iranian media, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the head of the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, the security deputy of the Ministry of Interior, and the head of Iran's customs. According to this memorandum, ships can still import 60% of the goods they previously received and can move goods within Bushehr province without any restrictions with customs documents. Nevertheless, Khorshidi stated that representatives from border provinces in parliament must prevent this smuggling, but they say "it will create dissatisfaction." He also referred to smuggling through kolbari, stating that "kolbari is not for the livelihood of border residents, but rather a method for smugglers to circumvent the law." Khorshidi announced that 3.6 billion dollars in revenue from smuggling of final consumer goods in 2016 came through kolbari, adding: "90% of the profit from kolbari goes into the pockets of professional smugglers, and 10% is distributed among 61,000 kolbars." The spokesman called for action against teh-lanj and kolbari, while he made no mention of the issue of illegal docks. Mehdi Karroubi, the former speaker of the sixth parliament in 2002, was the first to report the existence of 33 illegal docks controlled by military and law enforcement agencies, which have become known as "invisible docks" in Iranian economic and political discourse. Subsequently, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, stated in July 2011 that several agencies and organizations import goods through illegal docks and borders and must be stopped, referring to these forces as "brother smugglers." A day later, Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that his command, like other military agencies, has military docks but no commercial transactions are conducted there. Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, also mentioned in February 2016, without naming any specific agency or organization, that "a corrupt agency that... can import smuggled goods does not allow the country to grow." In this context, the police's 2017 program: combating smuggling and dealing with addicts and armed criminals, the deputy of Rouhani: smuggling has decreased to ten billion dollars, the attorney general: help the impoverished kolbars and deal with the rest, three thousand containers of smuggled goods enter Iran daily, a letter from 60 political and civil activists to address the situation of kolbars.