Colonel Hossein Dehaki made the announcement on Sunday, saying that the maritime guards of Hormozgan Province, south of Iran identified and seized 998,000 smuggled diesel fuels in the Persian Gulf in the past month.
According to the commander, 1.100 ton of different illicit drugs has also been confiscated during the operations in the same period.
185 smugglers have been arrested and 125 vessels of fuel smuggling and 31 vehicles were seized in the same period, he added.
Fuel, especially diesel, is being moved illegally out of the country through cities bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkey, says Alireza Zeighami, deputy oil minister for refining and distribution. Between 7 million-10 million liters of petrol and diesel are smuggled out every day, according to Iranian state media. Analysts are attributing a 7 percent rise in fuel consumption to an increase in smuggling activity.
MNA/IRN 83612476
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