Smuggling of people and cigarettes prevented

(Patria) - Police officers of the Border Police Unit Bijeljina, in cooperation with members of the Indirect Taxation Authority on May 1, 2018, at the entrance to BiH at the Popovi International Border Crossing, discovered 3,715 packs of cigarettes without excise stamps in a Renault Espace vehicle with license plates from the Republic of Serbia. The cigarettes were found in cavities and specially made compartments in the vehicle.

The driver of the Renault, a twenty-nine-year-old citizen of the Republic of Serbia, U.S., was arrested and handed over to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH along with a report on the committed criminal offense of "smuggling" in connection with the criminal offense of "unauthorized trade in excise products".

"A day earlier, officers of the Bijeljina Border Police Unit at the Rača Border Crossing, during a border check of a Peugeot vehicle with license plates from the Republic of Serbia, discovered three individuals from Kosovo who attempted to enter BiH using the personal identification cards of citizens of the Republic of Serbia. The driver of the Peugeot, a Serbian citizen S.S. (1987), as well as E.K. (2001), I.K. (2002), and A.S. (2002) from Kosovo, were handed over to members of the BiH Service for Foreigners' Affairs. A report on the committed criminal offense of "human smuggling" will be filed against the Serbian citizen S.S. to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH," the Border Police announced.