Parliament report: 95 percent of smuggling is carried out through legal entries and methods

The Iranian parliament announced in a report that 95 percent of smuggling into the country is carried out through legal entries and methods, and through 31 methods.

The report "Research and Investigation into the Process of Combating Smuggling and the Reasons for Its Inefficiency in Various Governments" was read out in an open session of the Iranian Parliament on Tuesday, May 13.

According to the report, contrary to what customs officials say, 95 percent of smuggling into Iran is carried out through "official principles and procedures."

The report's authors say that 31 methods of smuggling goods through legal procedures and from official entries have been identified.

However, the report of the parliamentary investigation team does not mention these methods.

Previously, a number of MPs had stated that 70 to 90 percent of smuggling is done through official entry points and legal methods. However, these MPs did not mention the details of these methods or announce a method to combat it.

Iranian customs officials, however, have denied these claims.

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

Apart from the issue of smuggling through customs, the issue of smuggling goods through vehicles in the possession of military forces has been raised many times before.

During his second term as president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implicitly referred to the Revolutionary Guards as "smuggling brothers."

Hassan Rouhani also said in February 2015, without naming a specific institution or organization: "A corrupt institution that... can import smuggled goods does not allow the country to grow."

The sixth parliament's investigation report on smuggling also stated that "invisible wharves owned by informal and extralegal entities" play a role in smuggling. The report mentioned three IRGC wharves in Chabahar, Khor Zangi, and Hormozgan, and several wharves belonging to the police force. Mehdi Karroubi, the speaker of the sixth parliament, who is currently under house arrest, also mentioned the existence of 41 unauthorized wharves.

The investigation report of the 10th Parliament on Tuesday also announced that 22 to 33 percent of goods entering the country are smuggled.

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

According to the report's authors, despite claims by officials from the Anti-Smuggling and Currency Smuggling Headquarters that smuggling had decreased to about $13 billion, the amount of smuggled goods was still $21.5 to $25.5 billion.

Officials from the government of President Hossein Rouhani had previously announced that the amount of smuggling in Iran had been halved.

There are also varying statistics on the amount of goods imported into Iran through kolbars. Some reports say that three percent of smuggled goods enter the country through kolbars.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, had previously said: "The aim of combating smuggling is not to confront weak kolbars who import small goods in some areas, but rather to confront large smugglers who import smuggled goods into the country in dozens and hundreds of containers."

However, various reports are published annually about the deaths and injuries of kolbars due to gunfire from police officers.

Source: Radio Qarda