24 May 2011

Azerbaijani Customs Officials Fight Corruption and Smuggling

At a Cabinet Minsters meeting on Wednesday, the State Customs Committee Chairman, Aydin Aliyev (pictured here) declared that 33 separate incidents of drug smuggling had been uncovered by Azerbaijani officials in the first quarter of the new year alone. Azerbaijani authorities have recently implemented new programs in order to increase transparency, prevent smuggling and tax evasion, and fight corruption in customs control.

Some interesting statistics unveiled on Wednesday by Mr. Aliyev include the confiscation of 40.7 kg of drugs, 4,665 incidents of customs offenses – 60% of which were of a criminal nature – with 118 individuals brought to administrative responsibility for their actions.

For the original article from Trend.az, please click here.

The picture of Mr. Aliyev comes courtesy of the same Trend.az website.