Customs: 69,350,000 cigarettes illegally released via Bogorodica in operation "Filter"
Customs says seven cases were uncovered in operation "Filter"; damage to state coffers exceeds €6.1 million.
Customs director Boban Nikolovski announced that nearly 70 million cigarettes were illegally released onto the market in the Republic of North Macedonia as a result of an organized smuggling scheme dismantled under the operation code-named "Filter". Authorities detected seven separate cases of illicit cigarette trafficking connected to the network.
Entry points, transit claims and illegal unloading
Nikolovski said four of the cases involved tractor-trailers that entered the country via the Bogorodica border crossing without their entry being recorded by customs and police officers. In the remaining three cases, the trucks also arrived through Bogorodica under transit procedures: two declared for Moldova and one for Serbia, but the cigarettes were illegally unloaded inside the country and the empty trailers later left via the Tabanovce crossing.
"Instead of transit being carried out in accordance with customs regulations, the cigarettes were illegally unloaded on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia after which the trailers left the country via the Tabanovce border crossing empty, while in the customs system they had been recorded as full," Nikolovski said at the press conference.
The total quantity released into circulation across the seven cases amounts to 69,350,000 cigarettes, and the damage to the state budget is estimated at more than €6.1 million.
Criminal charges have been filed against three legal entities and 18 individuals. The list of accused includes four customs officers and three police officers, as well as one forwarding company, one transport company and one importing company.
During early-morning operations, searches were carried out at 23 locations and 13 people were detained: four customs officers, two police officers, two drivers and five other individuals. Authorities said they have contacted three persons currently abroad and expect them to present themselves upon return. Investigations are ongoing and officials expect the number of implicated persons to grow.
"For the Customs Administration there are and will be no untouchables. Everyone who is found to have broken the laws or abused official powers will be subject to appropriate proceedings before the competent institutions, regardless of whether it is an economic operator, an individual, and especially an official," Nikolovski added, reiterating the administration's pledge to pursue both public servants and private actors involved in the scheme.
Photo: MIA
