Parliamentary Report: 95 Percent of Smuggling Occurs Through Legal Entry Points and Methods

Iran’s parliament announced in a report that 95 percent of smuggling into the country occurs through official entry points and legal methods, using 31 different techniques.

The report titled “Investigation and Inspection of Anti-Smuggling Efforts and Reasons for Its Ineffectiveness in Various Governments” was read in an open session of Iran’s parliament on Tuesday, May 13.

According to this report, contrary to statements by customs officials, 95 percent of smuggling into Iran occurs through “official channels and formal procedures.”

The report’s authors state that 31 methods of smuggling goods through legal procedures and official entry points have been identified.

However, the parliament’s investigation and inspection committee did not detail these methods in their report.

Previously, several parliament members had stated that 70 to 90 percent of goods smuggling occurs through official entry points and legal methods. However, these representatives did not elaborate on the details of these methods or propose solutions to counter them.

Iranian customs officials, however, have rejected these claims.

The issue of government bodies and those in power being involved in expanding the phenomenon of goods and currency smuggling in Iran has been raised for years in various media outlets and speeches by Islamic Republic officials.

Beyond smuggling through customs, the issue of goods smuggling through ports controlled by military forces has been raised repeatedly.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his second presidential term, implicitly referred to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as “smuggler brothers.”

Hassan Rouhani also stated in November 2015, without naming any specific organization or institution: “A corrupt apparatus that… can bring smuggled goods in, does not allow the country to develop.”

In the sixth parliament’s investigation and inspection report on goods smuggling, it was stated that “unauthorized ports in the hands of unofficial and extralegal entities” play a role in goods smuggling. The report mentioned three Revolutionary Guards ports in Chabahar, Khur Zangui, and Hormozgan, as well as several ports belonging to the police force. Mehdi Karoubi, head of the sixth parliament who is now under house arrest, also mentioned the existence of 41 unauthorized ports.

In Tuesday’s investigation and inspection report of the tenth parliament, it was also announced that 22 to 33 percent of goods imported into the country constitute smuggling.

According to this report, only 1 to 2 percent of smuggled goods entering Iran are discovered.

According to the report’s authors, contrary to claims by officials of the headquarters to combat goods and currency smuggling about reducing smuggling to around 13 billion dollars, the amount of goods smuggling remained between 21.5 to 25.5 billion dollars.

Hassan Rouhani’s government officials had previously claimed that the amount of goods smuggling in Iran had been halved.

Regarding the amount of goods imported into Iran through kolbars (porters), different statistics have been reported. Some reports suggest that three percent of smuggled goods entered the country through kolbars.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, previously stated: “Fighting goods smuggling does not mean confronting weak kolbars who smuggle small items in certain areas, but rather large-scale smugglers who bring hundreds of containers of smuggled goods into the country.”

Nevertheless, various reports are published annually about kolbars being killed or wounded as a result of gunfire from police forces.

Source: Radio Qardas