The Azerbaijani Internal Ministry, together with the State Border Service, conducted a large-scale operation to combat drug trafficking in the mountainous regions of Yardimli and Lerik, which border Iran. During the operation, a police officer was reportedly killed and another was wounded in a shootout with drug dealers.
Official information about the incident was only shared late in the evening of 22 May, after a video was posted on TikTok, which was later removed.
In the video, about 10 people are seen in front of a school stadium in the Masalli district, watching a helicopter attempt to land at the stadium.
In the comments, people indicated that the footage was shot in the Yardimli district, and that the operation resulted in several fatalities.
The independent media outlet Gazetji, which published the now-deleted video on social media, reported that police and border guards encountered armed resistance from unknown individuals during a joint operation.
‘As a result of the shootout, several police officers were injured, and one was killed’, Gazetji reported, citing a local source.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Elshad Hajiyev confirmed the incident to Gazetji, but said no police officers were killed, and that only one was injured.
On Monday, Hajiyev told OC Media that the injured police officer was still being treated for his injuries. However, the authorities have yet to publish any additional information about his current condition or identity.
The incident was not covered by the main pro-government media outlets and the State Border Service has not commented on the incident.
On Monday, the State Border Service reported that another string was conducted in the Lankaran district on 23 May against traffickers coming from Iran. During the operation, the authorities claim to have confiscated 38 kilogrammes of drugs and 2,890 methadone tablets.
Azerbaijan says that most drugs come into its borders through Iran, with the State Custom Committee saying in 2021 that drugs coming from Iran were produced in Afghanistan.
‘Traditionally, these substances are transported primarily from that country to Iran, and then on to Azerbaijan. Drug couriers attempt to deliver drugs to European countries via the Balkan route, transiting through Azerbaijan’, said the head of the committee, Masum Rasulov.
This is not the first shootout between smugglers from Iran and State Border Service officers in 2026.
In February, four unidentified individuals, which the authorities allege had come from Iran into Azerbaijan’s Jalialabad district, opened fire on State Border Service and Interior Ministry personnel, but no one was injured. The authorities confiscated over 33 kilogrammes of narcotics and other materials from the assailants.
