Drug Hidden in Bride's Dress Folds: Armenia's NSS

Cases of smuggling detection increased in 2020. This information was revealed during a press conference by Vardan Vardanyan, head of the Customs Anti-Smuggling Department of the RA NSS.

Last year, 426 smuggling cases were uncovered, which is 2.4 times more than in 2018 and 2.1 times more than in 2019. The detection rate was the highest in the past 10 years,” he said.

Due to the spread of coronavirus and the closure of the land border with Iran, cases of smuggling through postal delivery have increased.

According to Vardanyan, customs officers seized a total of 6.1 kilograms of methamphetamine, 5.2 kilograms of opium, 3.1 kilograms of marijuana, 2.9 kilograms of ketamine, 1.6 kilograms of heroin, 1,300 blotters of LSD, around 600 MDMA (ecstasy) pills, and 83 electronic cigarettes containing hash oil in 2020.

“Several large shipments of drugs were intended to be transported from Iran to third countries via Armenia. For instance, in January, the NSS prevented two attempts to export opium to Australia. In another case, 5.2 kilograms of methamphetamine was to be shipped to Japan, hidden in the folds of a bride's dress (taking advantage of the fact that the crystals of this drug are also white),” the official reported.

In another case, an Iranian married couple was arrested as they were preparing to transport drugs to Malaysia. They operated in a similar manner: the wife concealed the drugs in soluble coffee, while the husband hid them in tea bags.

The detection of offenses was aided by both the professionalism of customs officers and their collaboration with Iranian partners and Russian border guards. “Humanitarian efforts have also played a role. Last year, the NSS expanded the number of service dogs and acquired new training equipment for its canine center,” Vardanyan noted.