The head of Parliament’s legal commission announced that Parliament is looking at a heavier punishment for smuggling alcoholic beverages by adding prison terms to the existing fines.
Abolfazl Aboutorabi told Khaneh Mellat that the fines, which reach as high as 100 million rials, may now be combined with a prison term of six months to a year.
The head of Iran’s social workers association announced that according to security forces, 80 million litres of alcohol were smuggled into the country in 2011, with police discovering and confiscating 20 million litres of that.
Security forces also report that 200,000 Iranians are addicted to alcohol. Consuming alcohol is prohibited in Iran; however, some reports indicate that 200,000 people are involved in the country’s alcoholic beverage market.
