Tobacco and cigarettes of questionable quality seized

Officials of the Indirect Taxation Authority prevented illegal trade in counterfeit world-famous cigarette brands. These are cigarettes that can be harmful to the health of citizens who consume them, as the manufacturer and composition of these cigarettes are unknown.

- Officials of the Group for Prevention of Smuggling and Offences from the Sarajevo Regional Centre, by conducting coordinated activities in combating smuggling and preventing illegal trade in excise goods, seized a larger quantity of cigarettes and tobacco. Specifically, 2,327 packs of cigarettes and 67 kg of cut tobacco were seized. This seizure prevented further damage to the state budget.

In addition to this, and due to the fact that these are mostly counterfeit cigarettes of well-known world brands, their content is also highly questionable. Therefore, consuming such cigarettes is harmful to people's health, as there is no evidence of where these cigarettes were produced and whether their composition contains permitted and controlled substances. Therefore, we appeal to the citizens of BiH not to consume such cigarettes sold without any proof of origin and without excise stamps issued by the ITA.

During the execution of this operation, ITA officials used equipment, knowledge, and skills acquired through a long-term training and equipping program by the Government of the USA, through the EXBS program - it was announced from the ITA.