Azerbaijani customs authorities intercepted a wide range of smuggled goods in the first half of 2025, including diamonds with a total weight exceeding 1,300 carats, according to new official data.
As reported by Report, the figures were presented by Elshan Safarli, head of the service organization department at the State Customs Committee’s Air Transport Directorate.
Between January and June 2025, customs inspections at Azerbaijan’s border checkpoints uncovered 234 administrative violations and 54 criminal offenses.
During this period, officials prevented the illegal movement of substantial sums of foreign currency into the country, including $261,412, €21,728, and £100,000.
Safarli noted that customs officers also blocked numerous attempts to bring restricted or undeclared goods into Azerbaijan. Among the seized items were:
145 packs of strong pharmaceutical substances
1,520 packages of various medications
11,520 cigarettes
17 kilograms of caviar
1,185 mobile phones
But the most striking discovery involved attempts to smuggle 13,337 carats of diamonds and 1,544 grams of gold across the border – a haul valued in the tens of millions of dollars on the international market.
Customs officials say the figures highlight both the scale of smuggling attempts and the growing importance of enhanced border control measures across the country.
