Operation Tref 2: Smuggled Tobacco, Fish, and Leaked Secret Data

The BiH Border Police, by order of the BiH Court and Prosecutor's Office, carried out an operational action codenamed “Tref 2“ on the morning of December 1, 2014, targeting the smuggling of excise goods and corruption. Searches were conducted at 12 locations in the areas of Herzegovina-Neretva, West Herzegovina, and Central Bosnia Cantons, and 12 individuals were apprehended, reports the Patria News Agency.

- Operation Tref 2 is the latest example of extremely good cooperation between the BiH Border Police and the BiH Prosecutor's Office, the BiH Court, and OSA (Agency for Security and Investigation) in order to prevent all types of cross-border crime and corruption. I would especially like to thank and congratulate the police officers of the BiH Border Police who worked diligently on this operation for a longer period of time – stated the Director of the BiH Border Police, Zoran Galić.

There are grounds for suspicion that some of the apprehended individuals, in order to gain unlawful property benefits, committed the criminal offense of “association for the commission of criminal offenses“ in the past period, in connection with the smuggling of larger quantities of cut tobacco from Bosnia and Herzegovina into the territory of the Republic of Croatia, as well as the illegal trade of excise goods into the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two customs officers of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH assigned to the customs post Orahovlje were apprehended: D. P. and D. J., as well as a citizen of the Republic of Croatia, T. P., and three BiH citizens A. M., I. D., and Z. K. from the areas of Posušje, Vitez, and Kreševo. Four police officers of the BiH Border Police from the Doljani Border Police Unit were also apprehended: M. V., I. V., A. T., and A. Č., for whom there are grounds for suspicion that they committed corrupt criminal offenses related to smuggling, and for two of them, also for the criminal offenses of “disclosure of secret data“ and “smuggling“.

During the operation, BiH citizens S. B. and D. Š. were apprehended due to grounds for suspicion that they committed the criminal offense of “organizing a group of people for the distribution of uncustomed goods“ in connection with the smuggling and illegal resale of larger quantities of sea fish from Croatia to BiH.