Incident

Incident

Deputy Head of the State Border Service: Iranian special services use drug smuggling in their activities against Azerbaijan-INTERVIEW

Firuz Shirinzadeh, Deputy Head of the State Border Service

07 April 2023 17:28 (UTC +04:00)

“Border patrols were ordered to destroy drug smugglers who do not subject to legal requirements and put up armed resistance”

Lieutenant-General Firuz Shirinzadeh, Deputy Head of the State Border Service (SBS) for Operational and Investigative Work was interviewed APA

- According to the information we received, last night there was a skirmish on the state border with Iran. How reliable is this information?

We face situations like this almost every day. Yes, drug smugglers tried again yesterday to violate the state border. At night, at the office of the Horadiz border detachment, the Border Troops of the State Border Guard Service prevented the importation of drugs into the country. Several people tried to violate the border and cross into the territory of our country. They did not obey the lawful demand of the border guards and opened fire on the border guards. Weapons were used against them, and the border violators retreated, taking advantage of the difficult terrain and darkness. At the scene, 63.5 kg of drugs belonging to them were found. At the moment, operational-search activities are ongoing.

- In general, there has been an increase in narcoterrorism by Iran against Azerbaijan lately...

- First of all, I want to say that the most severe measures are being taken against criminals trying to smuggle drugs into Azerbaijan. The border detachments are ordered to destroy on-the-spot drug smugglers who put up armed resistance to the border guards and do not obey legal requirements. These measures will be continued with full determination.

As for the growth of narcoterrorism by Iran, yes, the statistics confirm this fact. The mass of drugs imported from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Azerbaijan over the past 5 years has increased 9 times. We found that from Iran they tried to illegally import into the territory of our country in 2018 144.8 kg, and in 2022 1.302 tons of drugs. Over the past 5 years, 55 Iranian citizens have been detained and prosecuted for drug smuggling.

- Statistics show that in 2022, attempts to smuggle drugs from Iran to Azerbaijan have noticeably increased. What do you think, what is it connected with?

- The total mass of drugs seized at the Azerbaijani-Iranian state border (green border) in 2021-2022 amounted to 2 tons 113.3 kg. In 2018-2020, that is, over the previous 3 years, 1 t 222 kg of drugs were seized, in other words, this figure increased sharply. This shows that before the Patriotic War, a large proportion of drug smuggling accounted for the 132-kilometer occupied section of the Azerbaijani-Iranian state border. Our border territories, which were under occupation before the great victory we won in the Patriotic War, were used for mass drug trafficking before the war.

Drugs were transported from Iran to Armenia through these territories. From this activity, which was carried out jointly with Armenia, both Armenia and Iran received large profits. The law enforcement agencies of our country have revealed numerous facts related to this. The fact that, under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani border guards, having shown great courage, restored our control over the state border with Iran with battles, contributed to the suppression of large regional drug trafficking.

Here it would be appropriate to recall that this moment was repeatedly reflected in the reports of the US State Department on the strategy of international drug control. The large financial resources received from this drug trafficking, which is characterized as a "black hole", in addition to the use of the separatist regime and the criminal leadership of Armenia for personal purposes, were also widely used to purchase weapons and ammunition in order to prevent the liberation of the occupied territories.

- We regularly read in the news that drug smugglers are putting up armed resistance to Azerbaijani border guards...

- Azerbaijani border guards are taking the most severe measures against drug smugglers. The importation of drugs from Iran is carried out accompanied by armed formations equipped with the most modern weapons and special technical equipment (night vision devices, etc.). Over the past 5 years alone, armed resistance to border guards has been 27 times. In these cases, as a result of the return fire of the border detachment, 15 smugglers were eliminated, and five were wounded. Of the liquidated smugglers, 13 people were citizens of Iran, two were citizens of Azerbaijan. We also had losses during these operations. Three of our servicemen were killed and five were injured.

I emphasize once again that it is ordered to take the most stringent measures against border violators, resisting border guards and not obeying legal requirements.

- There is an opinion that there are other goals behind the attempts to smuggle drugs into our country. What can you say about it?

- It is an undeniable fact that the special services of the Islamic Republic of Iran also use drug smuggling in their activities directed against the Azerbaijani statehood. There are also facts indicating that the persons involved in this criminal activity were subsequently forced in various ways to comply with the instructions of the special services.

Another important issue here is, as we have already noted, the implementation of drug terrorism against the youth of Azerbaijan. It is also a fact that Iran is currently carrying out narco-terrorism against Azerbaijan. Involving Azerbaijani youth in drug addiction is a provocative step against the future of our people. The scheme is very clear - to bring drugs into the country, sell them here and poison the youth of Azerbaijan, and use the proceeds in provocative actions against the Azerbaijani statehood. But the State Border Service, as well as the law enforcement agencies of our country, expose and suppress these insidious plans.

- By the way, how does the State Border Service cooperate with other law enforcement agencies in this direction?

- Within the framework of measures to combat drug smuggling, the State Border Service has established a system of mutually beneficial cooperation and effective information exchange with the Prosecutor General's Office, state security, internal affairs and customs authorities at the highest level.

The effectiveness of this cooperation is manifested in the identification of other participants in criminal activity and the disclosure of criminal networks as a result of the identification and in-depth investigation of the facts of drug discovery.