TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran Captures Online US-Arms Dealing Band: Deputy Commander of Iran’s Law Enforcement Police Forces Brigadier General Qassem Rezayee said that the Iranian security forces have captured and disbanded a ring who smuggled US-made weapons to Iran via Turkey and traded the cargoes through internet websites and social media.
“Thanks to the continued fight against arms and ammunition smuggling in real and virtual atmosphere, the police was informed of the moves of a weapons buying and selling gang in cyberspace by carrying out technical and intelligence measures,” General Rezayee said on Saturday.
He added that the gang was identified with timely and vigilant acts of the police within 48 hours and all its members were arrested in less than two weeks, he added.
General Rezayee noted that all the discovered arms have been made in the US and trafficked through Turkey, and added, “So we ask Turkey to take practical measures in this regard and prevent smuggling of anti-human and anti-security cargos to our country.”
In a relevant development last October, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) discovered and seized a large number of smuggled guns in Fereidounkenar city in the Northern province of Mazandaran.
Commander of the Basij (volunteer) forces of Fereidounkenar city in Northern Iran Mohammad Barmar made the announcement, saying that the weapons were seized during special operations in cooperation between the Judiciary and the IRGC security forces.
“A Peugeot taxi car and a truck were seized and 64 guns were discovered and confiscated,” he added.
Barmar said that two non-local suspects were also detained during the operations.
Also in the same month, a senior advisor to Iranian intelligence minister warned of enemies’ plots to arm people in the country with smuggled weapons to foment insecurity.
“The enemy is attempting to bring people to the streets to spark two incidents,” said the senior advisor who is also the director-general of the intelligence ministry’s office in Khorassan Razavi province in Northeastern Iran.
“The enemy wants to make the internal equations in Iran violent, specially in the streets of the big cities, by supplying smuggled weapons among people,” he added.
