Azernews.Az

The State Border Service has prevented over 26.9 kg of drugs, and 520 psychotropic pills from being smuggled into Azerbaijan from Iran, the service reported on May 5.

The first incident occurred in the service area of the Horadiz border detachment’s border post near Fuzuli region’s Boyuk Bahmanli village at about 0015 on May 1. A border guard serving in the area noticed signs indicating the violation of the state border from Iran to Azerbaijan.

As a result of the operational measures, the area was cordoned off and taken under control. Two unidentified people with two parcels in the area attracted the attention of the border guards. The suspects, who disobeyed the border guard’s order, were detained while trying to leave the scene.

During the inspection of the packages, 26.6 kilograms of drugs (1.9 kg of opium, 3.9 kg of heroin, 17.7 kg of dried marijuana, 2.9 kg of methamphetamine), as well as 20 psychotropic pills methadone-40 were seized from Baku resident Emil Aliyev (42) and Fuzuli resident Gulshan Ahmadova (25).

At about 1830 on May 2, a signaling device in the service area of the Horadiz border detachment’s border post near Fuzuli's Yaglivand village received a signal concerning a state boundary violation.

The border guards discovered traces of a person violating the state border from Iran to Azerbaijan and the service area was immediately blocked.

As a result of complex search operations, the trespasser, Saatli resident Elshan Gadirov (34), was apprehended.

During the inspection, 295 grams of methamphetamine and 500 methadone-40 psychotropic pills were found in a package inside his jacket.

The cases are undergoing the necessary operational and investigative procedures.

Border protection and search operations are underway to ensure reliable protection of the state border and combat drug trafficking and psychotropic substances.

As Iran borders both Afghanistan and Azerbaijan, drugs are traditionally smuggled in from Afghanistan into Iran and then into Azerbaijan. Given Azerbaijan's geographical location, drug traffickers attempt to smuggle drugs into European countries along the Balkan route via the country.

After the restoration of its territorial integrity, Azerbaijan is taking steps to ensure the safety and restoration of order in the liberated lands. One of these measures is to halt the flow of drugs in the region that was previously controlled by Armenia's illegal regime in Karabakh.

Armenia used Karabakh and the surrounding seven regions for illegal activities such as arms and drug trafficking during its 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Despite the fact that Azerbaijan repeatedly raised the issue with international organizations, Armenia continued in the same vein, creating all of the necessary conditions for the illegal cultivation, production, and distribution of narcotic substances.

Azerbaijan closed the drug trafficking route from Iran to Armenia and then to Europe that used to pass through Jabrayil region.

After Azerbaijan regained control of the 130-km section of the state border with Iran, which had been under Armenian control for 30 years, the country closed the drug trafficking route from Iran to Armenia and then to Europe.

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