Iran's IRGC announces seizure of ship smuggling 250k L of fuel

ehran, April 16 (IANS) Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has announced it has seized a vessel in the Gulf waters carrying 250,000 litres of smuggled fuel, the second such seizure during the past days, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The ship's seven crew members have been detained and are undergoing legal interrogation procedures, said Gholam Hossein Hosseini, Head of the Public Relations Department of the IRGC's second naval zone.

Hosseini noted that fighting smuggling, particularly that of fuel, is among the main missions of the IRGC Navy and has been placed on the force's agenda, Xinhua news agency reported.

The IRGC Navy had also seized a foreign tanker carrying 220,000 litres of smuggled fuel in the Gulf and arrested its 11 crew members, the official news agency IRNA reported last week.