Iraqi Navy Arrests Captain and Crew of Fuel-Smuggling Vessel

Iraq’s navy has announced the rare arrest of a foreign vessel on fuel-smuggling charges, the first such public statement in recent years. 

The Iraqi Navy said that the vessel seized on Tuesday was arrested near the Basra petroleum port complex by the Iraqi Navy’s 1st Marine Battalion. Based on images provided by the service, the unnamed vessel was an older OSV, not a tanker, indicating a small-scale smuggling operation. It appeared to be flying the colors of the Iranian flag; the master was Iranian, and the rest of the crew were Iraqi and Indian nationals. 

The custody of the crew has been transferred to civilian authorities for further investigation, and the vessel has been towed to the naval base at Umm Qasr. 

Courtesy Iraqi Navy

The source of the fuel was not disclosed, but illicit smuggling networks siphon government-subsidized diesel and gasoline out of Iran in substantial quantities, paying pennies on the dollar domestically and receiving far higher black-market prices in neighboring countries. Most of this illegal trade crosses Iran’s land borders, but a portion of the illicit exports leave Iran by ship – typically aboard aging coastal tankers and other small vessels ill-suited for large-scale foreign trade. Iran’s security forces routinely intercept these vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz, but rarely are the smuggling vessels arrested in a destination market like Iraq.