Crime in Iran is present in various forms, and may include the following offences: murder, kidnapping,

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

, fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, drug dealing, alcohol smuggling, oil smuggling,

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, not wearing "proper" hijab, eating and drinking during Ramadan, drinking alcohol , and many other crimes.

Drug trafficking and money laundering

Drug trafficking is a major and ongoing issue in Iran. Iran is a key

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g ...

point for

Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

n heroin between

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. With 2.8 percent of the population addicted to drugs, Iran has one of the highest rates of drug addiction in the world, rivaling the 10 - 15% in Afghanistan. According to published figures, Iran has so far lost close to 3,500 police and security officers to the anti-drug campaign that annually costs the country almost $1 billion and inflicts an annual damage of about $8.5 billion on Iran's economy. Hundreds of drug smugglers have also been hanged. It has been estimated by the government of Iran in 2015 that dirty money from drug trafficking in Iran amounts to 10 trillion toumans a year (1 touman equals 10 rials), some of which has been finding its way into "elections and the securing of votes" to influence the country's politics.

Opium

The majority of drug users in Iran use opium. Iran produces almost none of its own opium; the opium is brought into the country from neighboring Afghanistan. In 2006, over 53 percent of the opium produced in Afghanistan left the country through Iran. Several measures have been taken by the Iranian authorities to combat drug trafficking. This includes increasing the number of police forces on the southeastern border of Iran and introducing severe laws and penalties for people found guilty of drug trafficking. Iran has become a leading figure in combating drug trafficking; so far Iranian authorities have made over 85 percent of the world's total opium seizures. Between 2009 and 2010, the amount of illicit drugs seized by Iranian police totalled over 340 tons.

Tax evasion

Tax evaders typically are either involved in activities in the gray sector of economy or in the underground market which they do not divulge. Others are engaged in smuggling and the black market. The losses are equivalent to 20% to 25% of the country's gross domestic product revenue. In 2014, international medias reported Iranian nationals to be listed among the tax evaders in the HSBC scandal in Switzerland.

Human trafficking

According to the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

: "Iran is a source, transit, and destination for women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude. Iranian women are trafficked internally for the purpose of forced prostitution and for forced marriages to settle debts. Iranian children are trafficked internally and Afghan children are trafficked to Iran for the purpose of forced marriages, commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude as beggars or laborers. According to non-governmental sources, Iranian women and girls are also trafficked to Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom for commercial sexual exploitation."

Alcohol smuggling

Iran began restricting alcohol production and consumption shortly after the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

. Even with this ban, alcohol smuggling is still popular in Iran today. It is reported that over 2.5 million dollars of alcohol is smuggled into Iran every day. Smugglers often have a hard time smuggling alcohol into Iran; border security forces repeatedly clash with smugglers and many die.

Oil smuggling

Oil smuggling has become more of an issue in Iran. Iranians pay an average price of 25 cents a liter for

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...

while neighboring countries pay more than a dollar per liter which makes oil smuggling a profitable business for smugglers. Every year in Iran, over 1.8 billion liters of refined oil products are smuggled to neighboring countries. These countries include Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey.

Honor killing

Terrorism

Punishment

Iran has one of the highest execution rates (second only to China).

Adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

and homosexual sex are considered illegal acts under Iranian law and under certain circumstances may carry the death penalty. Punishment for drug use and trafficking can be severe; anyone convicted of having possession of, using or trafficking in illegal drugs can expect long jail sentences, heavy fines and even the death penalty.

References

External links

Drug trafficking and other criminal markets in Iran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crime In Iran