Anvar Taghiyev, senior operational officer at the Operations Department of the Operational Investigations Directorate under the Main Customs Department, who was indicted in connection with a large-scale cigarette smuggling operation at the Baku Hovsan International Sea Trade Port, has been released from pretrial detention.
Sea-news.az reports citing Qafqazinfo, that Taghiyev was released under house arrest during his initial court appearance.
Following the discovery of the port smuggling scheme, the customs officer fled the country. After spending one year on the international wanted list, he was apprehended in Ukraine a month ago and extradited to Azerbaijan.
During the first session at the Baku Court on Serious Crimes, the defendant’s legal counsel requested that his client be tried while not in custody. The attorney justified the motion by arguing there was no risk of the defendant evading justice.
By decision of Presiding Judge Azer Taghiyev, Anvar Taghiyev was released under house arrest.
According to the indictment, Anvar Taghiyev conspired with the owner of Baku Hovsan Port, Ruslan Eyyubov, General Director Rashad Dashdamirov, Head of Port Service Zaur Hashimov, and others to facilitate the illicit maritime trafficking of untagged tobacco products—subject to mandatory excise marking—into the country via the port.
The judicial proceedings concerning the aforementioned co-defendants are ongoing under separate court proceedings; they were also recently released under house arrest.
Anvar Taghiyev faces charges specifically because he was on duty on the night the vessel “Bayandur” arrived with the contraband cigarettes. The prosecution alleges he entered the office of General Director Rashad Dashdamirov that night, stating he had received intelligence regarding the vessel’s docking with illicit cargo.
However, Anvar Taghiyev rejects the prosecution’s claims, pleading not guilty and maintaining he was unaware of the smuggling scheme:
“There is the Hovsan Port and the Hovsan Customs Post. The customs post lies outside the port’s restricted perimeter. I was an operational officer stationed at the post and executed whatever tasks were assigned to me. I had absolutely no information about the vessel ‘Bayandur’ or its cargo. Like everyone else, I only learned hours later that the ship had been detained.”
While responding to questions from the prosecutor, the defendant acknowledged security loopholes at the Hovsan post. Taghiyev stated he had repeatedly informed his Main Directorate about operational deficiencies:
“I reported each time that there were security gaps at the Hovsan post—no CCTV cameras and weak perimeter security. I warned that unmanageable incidents could occur there in the future. However, after I left my post, all the official reports I submitted were sent for destruction.”
Taghiyev concluded his testimony by refusing to admit guilt under any count of the indictment.
It should be noted that the investigation into the 5-million-AZN cigarette smuggling case was conducted by the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption under the Prosecutor General. Dozens of individuals, including customs officers, military personnel, and public officials, have been criminally charged. No verdicts have been handed down in any of the associated cases to date.
