Financial Tribune - Since March 21, the Organization for Collection and Sales of State-Owned Properties of Iran has destroyed 500 billion rials ($4.4 million) worth of expired or smuggled goods, Jamshid Qosourian, the head of the organization, said on Friday.

�As we speak, the destruction program of the organization is carried out on a monthly basis in provinces where the goods have been seized,� he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

There are 23,000-25,000 billion rials [$202.64-220.26 million] worth of smuggled commodities in the warehouses of the Organization for Collection and Sales of State-Owned Properties of Iran, he added.

The organization recently reported that it sold 4,610 billion rials ($40.61 million) worth of abandoned, smuggled and seized properties as well as narcotics (to pharmaceutical companies) in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22).