Law-enforcement bodies revealed illegal trafficking in drugs worth more than 1.5 billion drams
24.01.2020,
15:32
Armenian law-enforcement bodies revealed last year Illegal trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substances worth more than 1.5 billion drams (about $3.1 million), Vardan Vardanyan, a senior official at the State Revenue Committee (SRC) in charge of combating smuggling, told a press conference on Friday
YEREVAN, January 24. /ARKA/. Armenian law-enforcement bodies revealed last year Illegal trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substances worth more than 1.5 billion drams (about $3.1 million), Vardan Vardanyan, a senior official at the State Revenue Committee (SRC) in charge of combating smuggling, told a press conference on Friday
He said overall SRC officers had prevented 142 attempts to smuggle drugs and psychotropic substances.
He said the problem is that smugglers use the territory of Armenia as a corridor for transporting drugs from Iran to other countries. According to him, in 2019, the SRC anti-smuggling department revealed and seized 11 kilograms of opioid, 8.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, about 3 kilograms of ketamine, 1.3 kilograms of marijuana and hashish, 74 electronic cigarettes and a mouthpiece containing hash oil, 16, 5 thousand tablets and capsules containing drugs.
"Compared to 2018, the volume of seized methamphetamine increased approximately 2.5 times, that of methadone 8 times, that of hashish and marijuana 12 times, and that of oprenofen 17 times," Vardanyan said.
Vardanyan said it is necessary to distinguish between cases in which Armenia was used as a transit territory from those when the country was the final point.
When asked what percentage of drug smuggling attempts remains unsolved, Vardanyan said that it is impossible to make such calculations, but it is generally accepted in the world that only 10-15% of smuggling cases are disclosed.
He said customs officers also revealed 575 undeclared mobile phones, more than 5 kilograms of gold and silver jewelry, 60 kilograms of drugs that do not contain narcotic and psychotropic substances. Vardanyan added that after passing all the necessary procedures and paying all duties and fines, the citizens received their goods back. -0-
He said overall SRC officers had prevented 142 attempts to smuggle drugs and psychotropic substances.
He said the problem is that smugglers use the territory of Armenia as a corridor for transporting drugs from Iran to other countries. According to him, in 2019, the SRC anti-smuggling department revealed and seized 11 kilograms of opioid, 8.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, about 3 kilograms of ketamine, 1.3 kilograms of marijuana and hashish, 74 electronic cigarettes and a mouthpiece containing hash oil, 16, 5 thousand tablets and capsules containing drugs.
"Compared to 2018, the volume of seized methamphetamine increased approximately 2.5 times, that of methadone 8 times, that of hashish and marijuana 12 times, and that of oprenofen 17 times," Vardanyan said.
Vardanyan said it is necessary to distinguish between cases in which Armenia was used as a transit territory from those when the country was the final point.
When asked what percentage of drug smuggling attempts remains unsolved, Vardanyan said that it is impossible to make such calculations, but it is generally accepted in the world that only 10-15% of smuggling cases are disclosed.
He said customs officers also revealed 575 undeclared mobile phones, more than 5 kilograms of gold and silver jewelry, 60 kilograms of drugs that do not contain narcotic and psychotropic substances. Vardanyan added that after passing all the necessary procedures and paying all duties and fines, the citizens received their goods back. -0-
