Iran has seized a tanker carrying more than two million liters of smuggled fuel in the country’s exclusive waters near Bandar Jask.

Axar.az informs according to Tasnim News Agency, Brigadier General Ahmadali Goudarzi said the network had planned to load a large quantity of diesel onto a tanker named Phoenix, sailing under a third-country flag, about 23 miles off Kuh Mobarak, and move it beyond Iran’s maritime borders.

Through coordination with the Navy, the Phoenix was intercepted. An inspection found 2,030,755 liters of smuggled diesel on board.

Seventeen foreign nationals were arrested and transferred to Bandar Jask for legal proceedings.

Goudarzi said experts valued the seized cargo at 759 billion rials (about $14 million), adding that border guards, working alongside other armed forces on land and sea, continue to deliver heavy blows to smuggling networks and thwart profiteers in the region.