Foreign Fuel Smuggling Ring Dismantled

Coastguards in the southern Hormozgan Province have disbanded a foreign gang of fuel smugglers and seized their ship in the Persian Gulf waters of Sirik County.  
The vessel was carrying 283,900 liters of diesel worth 3.2 billion rials ($2.6 million), according to Colonel Hossein Dehaki, the province's coastguard commander. 
"Twelve foreign suspects from the Philippines were detained and their cases are being reviewed by judicial authorities," he told Fars News Agency on Saturday.  
Coastguards have learnt that the ring had been smuggling fuel in large amounts. 
Cheap fuel prices due to heavy state subsidies and the fall in Iranian currency’s value have given rise to rampant fuel smuggling from Iran both by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Persian Gulf Arab states.