ArmInfo.During 2019, the State Revenue Committee of Armenia identified cases of illegal transport of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances worth over 1.5 billion drams. Head of the anti-smuggling department of the SRC Vardan Vardanyan, adding that in dollar terms the amount exceeds $ 3 million, announced this.
In total, during the past year, 11 kg of opium, 8.2 kg of methamphetamines, about 3 kg of ketamine, about 1.3 kg of marijuana and hashish, 74 electronic cigarettes containing hash oil, 16.5 thousand tablets and capsules were discovered and taken out of illicit trafficking, containing narcotic and psychotropic substances. Compared to 2018, the amount of seized methamphetamine increased almost 2.5 times, methadone 8 times, hashish and marijuana 12 times.
"In the case of the suppressed attempts to transport prohibited substances across the Armenian border, we mainly dealt with international mail, as well as attempts to carry through the Armenian-Iranian border," Vardanyan informed. In total, in 2019, 85 cases of sending narcotic and psychotropic substances to the territory of Armenia through mail were identified, of which 52 were from the USA, 20 from France, 13 from Germany, Spain, Austria, Israel and Poland.
According to Vardanyan, electronic cigarettes and mouthpieces containing hash oil were mainly delivered from the USA, and marijuana from European countries. From the United States and from Europe, drugs containing narcotic and psychotropic substances were also often sent to Armenia via mail.
It was also pointed out that over the past year 35 attempts to transport narcotic substances to Armenia from Iran have been identified, which mainly concerned opium, methamphetamine, hash, heroin, methadone and tramadol. At the same time, in 20 cases, the citizens of Iran acted as smugglers, and in the remaining cases, citizens of Armenia. In addition, at the Zvartnots airport, 8 attempts to smuggle drugs were stopped.
"Identified prohibited narcotic and psychotropic drugs are sealed, sent to the Investigation Department, where, after the completion of the criminal case, they are destroyed," Vardanyan said. According to him, during 2019, as a result of revealing the facts of concealment of goods from customs control, failure to fill out a declaration or providing inaccurate information, in particular, cases of illegal transportation of 574 mobile phones and more than 5 kg of gold and silver jewelry to the republic were recorded.