Prosecutor Demands 12 Years for Iranian Opium Smuggler

15:15, February 28, 2013

By Tatevik Harutyunyan

A Yerevan court is examining the case of an Iranian citizen who was caught trying to smuggle four kilos of opium into Armenia on October 11, 2012.

Hamid Shahlayei Jalalin has told the court that he had no idea that a suitcase give to him by a third party, ostensibly full of gifts for relatives in Armenia, actually included the drugs in a secret compartment.

At an earlier trial session, the defendant's attorney claimed that employees of Armenia's National Securty Service failed to properly log the drugs after taking possession.

Jalalin told the court that he often travels to Armenia as a tourist and that when he worked as a bus driver plying the Tehran-Yerevan route he wouldn't even bring over-the-counter pills with him.  Read more... (284 words)

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