As a result of joint operations by the State Border Service and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, members of an organised smuggling group who tried to cross the state border from the Caspian Sea into the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan were detained, Azernews reports.

During the investigation, it was determined that the detained persons are citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, residents of Bender-Turkmen city, Gulistan province, Behman Gasim, born in 1984, Nuri Nurmammad Bahramkhalid, born in 1983, and Rahim Ounek Anna, born in 1984, and they violated the state border with the purpose of illegally transporting drugs into Azerbaijan.

As a result of the ongoing operational measures, citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Aliyev Elkhan Nadir, born in 1982, and Mammadova Esmira Gulaga, born in 1976, who came to the coast of the sea with the intention of meeting the organised group of smugglers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, were detained.

Currently, the border guard ships of the State Border Service Coast Guard and divers are searching for another missing border violator, a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamid Vakili, born in 1985, and other material evidence thrown into the sea.

Investigation and search measures are ongoing in cooperation with the General Prosecutor's Office.