VIDEO: The State Revenue Committee Discovers Drugs Packaged in Bags and Wraps

The State Revenue Committee's Department for Combating Smuggling continues its uncompromising fight against the illegal transfer of drugs and psychotropic substances across the borders of the Republic of Armenia.

Recently, officers from the Committee's Department for Fighting Smuggling conducted a customs inspection of a bus operated by an Iranian citizen, F.M., arriving from the Islamic Republic of Iran at the Meghri customs checkpoint.

During the inspection, a specially trained sniffer dog from the K9 unit exhibited behavior indicating the presence of drugs in one of the items on the bus. A decision was made to thoroughly inspect a coffee maker present in the shipment, which, upon opening the box, revealed packages concealed in a transparent polyethylene bag and wrapped in protective film that resembled drugs.

Nine packages filled with a greenish substance resembling marijuana, weighing a total of 121.26 grams, were discovered, alongside 100 pink tablets labeled “LA CASA DE PAPEL” contained in a zip-locked polyethylene bag. Additionally, another zip-locked polyethylene bag was found containing a white powdery substance resembling cocaine, weighing 0.52 grams.

The tablets and the white powder were tested with specialized equipment. The results, which are included in the Government of Armenia's decision No. 707-N, confirmed that they were indeed drugs.

Following this case of smuggling, the operatives from the Counter Smuggling Division of the Armenian State Revenue Committee undertook immediate operational and intelligence measures. After receiving the shipment containing marijuana, MDMA, and substances resembling cocaine, A. Gh., an Iranian citizen, was arrested in front of a warehouse on America Street in Yerevan and taken to the Counter Smuggling Division of the State Revenue Committee, where a record of the arrest was made. He underwent a personal search accompanying the arrest.

The detained citizen informed the operatives of the Counter Smuggling Division about who had actually sent the aforementioned package and whom he was to hand it over to.

As part of the operational measures, another Iranian citizen, M. Kh., was arrested in one of the yards along the Tbilisi Avenue in Yerevan and taken to the Counter Smuggling Division, where he also underwent a personal search accompanying the arrest. Both were transferred to the investigative department of the Republic of Armenia's Investigative Committee for Economic Crimes and Smuggling, where they were both arrested and detained in connection with initiated criminal proceedings.