Iranian authorities seized a vessel carrying 106,500 liters of smuggled petroleum off the coast of Qeshm Island, located off of Iran’s southern coast, and arrested nine crew members on Monday morning, Iranian state media Tasnim reported.
Nine members of the vessel’s crew have been detained for investigation, the report added, citing the judiciary chief for Hormozgan province, Mojtaba Ghahremani.
They were likely intending to smuggle the fuel to one of the other countries along the Persian Gulf; however, they were caught in a joint operation between Iranian Military Intelligence and Border Guard patrols.
Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the fall of its currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring states and by sea to Gulf Arab countries.
It has frequently seized boats it says are being used for smuggling oil in the Gulf.
Source » jpost