Incident

Home page

Incident

Azerbaijan arrests customs inspector and accomplice for smuggling 41 gold bars into country

07 January 2025 19:07 (UTC +04:00)

A person accused of smuggling gold bars into the country has been arrested in Azerbaijan, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan said, APA reports.

During the investigation, it was determined that Afshar Mirzaliyev Nusrat, a senior inspector of the Targeting and Coordination Division of the Operations and Investigation Department of the Air Transport Head Customs Department under the State Customs Committee, used his official position in collusion with Safar Safarov Hasan. On December 27, 2024, at approximately 4:50 AM, Safarov arrived at Heydar Aliyev International Airport on an Istanbul-Baku flight, carrying 41 gold bars weighing 3,145 grams and worth a total of 461,000 AZN. It is strongly suspected that they succeeded in smuggling these gold bars into the country.

Based on the evidence collected, Safar Safarov was charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, while Afsar Mirzaliyev was charged under Articles 206.3.2 and 206.3.3 of the Criminal Code. Following motions by the investigative body and submissions by the prosecutor overseeing the preliminary investigation, the court issued decisions to impose pre-trial detention measures on both individuals.