The Operation and Investigation Office of Azerbaijan's Southern Territorial Main Customs Department says that it has seized a truck carrying 305 kilograms (approximately 670 pounds) of heroin near the country's border with Iran.
The seized parcels are valued at 22 million euros (more than $26 million) on the region's black market, according to local Azeri news outlets.
According to an official report, the truck was driven by an Iranian citizen, who was caught and detained by customs officers at Azerbaijan's Astara customs. Documents carried by the driver referred to the truck's cargo as agricultural equipment including plows, which was headed to Kazakhstan through Azerbaijan. The truck was scheduled to leave Azerbaijan for Kazakhstan by a vessel in the Caspian Sea.
Local Azerbaijani media reported that a trained dog of the Police Canine Unit inspected the iron frame of the plows, which was followed by a stationary X-ray, eventually detecting the narcotics.
More than 300 kilograms of heroin was detected in 598 pieces wrapped in different parcels, hidden inside over half of the units of the agricultural equipment.
While the investigation into the case is underway, the Iranian truck driver, Arazigojog Abdolrazzaq Moradgoli, is in police custody and under interrogation.
After positive coronavirus tests began to emerge from people traveling from Iran to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan closed its borders with its southern neighbor on February 29, but trucks carrying Iranian goods are still allowed to cross the border.
