Smugglers open fire and flee at the Iran border

A large shipment of narcotics being smuggled from Iran into Azerbaijan has been intercepted.

According to the Press Center of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, on February 20 an attempt to violate the state border was detected within the service area of the “Göytəpə” border detachment of the Border Troops. Four unidentified individuals were observed attempting to cross the border from Iran into Azerbaijan.

The border outpost was immediately put on alert under the “To Arms” command, and necessary measures were taken to prevent the violation of the state border.

Border guards ordered the suspects to stop and pursued them, firing warning shots into the air. However, the violators ignored the command and opened fire, posing a threat to the lives of the border guards. They abandoned their packages and fled back across the border, taking advantage of the darkness and the wooded terrain.

As a result of joint border search and operational measures carried out together with officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, three packages belonging to the suspects were discovered in the area. The seized items contained narcotics with a total weight of 33 kilograms and 900 grams, along with other material evidence.

The counterpart was informed of the incident through the border representatives’ communication channel.

Operational and investigative measures related to the incident are ongoing.