Discovery of Seven Million Psychoactive Pills in Hormozgan Province

The customs supervisor of Hormozgan Province announced the discovery of over seven million psychoactive pills in Hormozgan, which had been imported from an 'Asian' country to the Shahid Rajaei Port. According to the state news agency IRNA, Alireza Dashtani reported this news on Wednesday, October 5, stating that this quantity of tramadol pills was identified during an 'intelligence operation and tracking of a container that had entered the Shahid Rajaei Port from an Asian country... and was seized in coordination with the police and the prosecutor's office of Hormozgan Province.' As this official indicated, the discovered shipment, after being unsealed, 'contained 299 cartons, each carton including 250 packets of 100 pills.' He did not mention the name of the Asian country. The ISNA news agency also quoted Mr. Dashtani as reporting the number of discovered pills as 'seven million and 475 thousand 100 and 200 milligram tramadol pills.' According to the customs supervisor of Hormozgan Province, with the customs equipped with smart electronic tools and data cross-referencing, conditions have been created to 'identify shipment information after loading from the port of origin and even before declaration to customs based on the information of the shipping company and the real and legal persons owning the goods to manage risks and carry out necessary controls.' According to Fars news agency, Alireza Dashtani also added that 'the name of this port company has been identified and a case has been opened for this shipment in the Bandar Abbas prosecutor's office.' He stated that judicial investigations and the arrest of the suspects in this case are ongoing. Law enforcement and judicial officials frequently report the discovery of shipments containing psychoactive pills within Iran. The Mehr news agency reported on July 15, citing the deputy for combating supply and international affairs of the Drug Control Headquarters, that 16 tons and 121 kilograms of various drugs and psychoactive substances were discovered within two weeks. Asadollah Hadi Nejad stated that within two weeks, over 19 million psychoactive pills were discovered across the country, with the highest number related to Hamadan. He mentioned that members of a four-person gang 'intended to transfer this quantity of psychoactive drugs to the central provinces of the country, but were arrested in a surprise police operation.' The Khabar Online website also reported in 2015, citing Alireza Jazini, the then deputy secretary-general of the Drug Control Headquarters, that in 2014 '88 million psychoactive pills were discovered across the country.'