The Kabul Tribune (KT)— Iranian border guards in Razavi Khorasan province detained 145,520 Afghan nationals and prevented them from entering Iran between the beginning of the Iranian year and Sept. 29, the provincial border guard commander said.
Majid Shoja said at a news conference marking Police Week that those detained were handed over to Afghan authorities and returned to Afghanistan.
Shoja said 39,311 Afghan nationals without legal status had been detained and expelled from the province's borders during the first half of the previous year. He described the increase in this year's figure as 4.5 times the previous year's level.
He said 240,000 foreign nationals had entered Razavi Khorasan through land and air border crossings since the beginning of the year, including more than 200,000 Afghan nationals who entered legally with visas. He urged Afghan nationals to use legal channels to enter Iran.
Shoja also said about 1.5 metric tons of narcotics had been seized along the province's borders since the beginning of the year, twice the amount seized during the same period last year. He said 110 hunting and military firearms had also been confiscated.
The commander said fuel and other goods were also being smuggled across the province's borders, either in passengers' luggage or in vehicles crossing the border. The value of seized smuggled goods increased by 26% during the first half of the year, he said.
Shoja said some fuel was being smuggled in large quantities in 1.5-liter bottles concealed in vehicles crossing the border. He described the practice as “pocket smuggling,” referring to the small size of individual shipments and their large volume.
Razavi Khorasan shares 835 kilometers (519 miles) of border with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, including 535 kilometers (332 miles) with Turkmenistan and 300 kilometers (186 miles) with Afghanistan. The province's borders are overseen by three border regiments based in Dargaz, Sarakhs and Taybad.
