Discovery of the 'Largest' Smuggled Goods Shipment Since the Revolution

On Tuesday, July 29, the police chief of Hormozgan province announced the discovery of the largest smuggled goods shipment since the Islamic Revolution of Iran, valued at 1,900 billion rials. According to the IRNA news agency, Azizzollah Maleki, the police chief of Hormozgan province, stated that 23 government officials in the relevant organization and 17 smugglers have been arrested in connection with this case. He revealed that the first shipment of this smuggling ring, which included 11 containers, was discovered last Esfand (March) and that 200 more containers containing smuggled goods have been found since the beginning of this year. The main suspect in this case is a Tehran businessman named 'M. F.' who, under the guise of importing toys and household items, has brought in other goods using forged documents, collusion, bribery, and without paying customs duties. According to the IRIB news agency, Maleki added that after the discovery of this gang's shipments, key individuals from cities such as Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran came to Bandar Abbas for consultations to resolve the issue, and the police monitored them from the airport to their hideout. Following their arrival, all these individuals were arrested in an intelligence and operational action. Maleki also reported the discovery of billions of tomans in movable and immovable assets belonging to members of this network, stating that a significant amount of documents and records of shell companies, fake seals from various countries, bribery documents, and financial transaction statements were also obtained from their gathering place. Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, likened smuggling to 'a dagger in the back of the Islamic system' on June 6 and called for action from the government and parliament against it. Hossein Ashtari, the commander of the Iranian police, also described a significant portion of smuggling in Iran as 'organized' last Ordibehesht (April) and expressed hope that cooperation among all agencies could help combat it. Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, stated in Bahman (February) last year, 'When you want to produce, a corrupt organization that I do not want to name, which can bring in smuggled goods, prevents the country from growing. We must stop this corruption.' He did not mention the name of this organization or how it operates in smuggling. Habibollah Haghighi, head of the anti-smuggling goods and currency headquarters, announced that the annual volume of smuggling goods into Iran is between 20 to 25 billion dollars, which he stated is twice the total development budget of Iran.