According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency, the head of Iran's National Police Economic Security Department stated that Iranian police have uncovered illegal fuel tapping and theft cases in Isfahan, Kerman, and Tehran. The case in Isfahan province involved smugglers illegally tapping into the main oil pipeline at a brick factory located in a desert area near the national fuel pipeline. Based on intelligence and operational planning, the Isfahan Provincial Police Command arrested three suspects and seized two vehicles involved in the fuel smuggling operation. The suspects confessed to stealing and smuggling 2.24 million liters of fuel. Another case was uncovered in Kerman province, where 10 suspects have been arrested. The smugglers confessed to stealing and smuggling approximately 1.7 million liters of fuel through illegal tapping. During the operation, police also seized two trucks that arrived to load fuel. The smugglers rented an abandoned site along the pipeline and dug and dug a tunnel east of Tehran to the main pipeline in an attempt to steal and smuggle fuel. During the operation, two suspects escaped, but police, through intelligence and operational planning, eventually apprehended them in Semnan province. To date, those involved have confessed to stealing and smuggling 20,000 liters of fuel from the main pipeline.
