After several months of investigation, members of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH’s) Federal Police Administration (FUP) arrested 9 persons on Tuesday and seized 1.3 tons of tobacco.
The searches were conducted at 10 locations in cities of Grude, Mostar and Siroki Brijeg, all located some 150 kilometres southwest of the capital Sarajevo, Federal Police Administration press statement said on Tuesday.
During the operational action code-named “Akciza”, police officers seized 1.3 tons of tobacco, machines for cutting and packaging of tobacco, a large number of cigarettes without excise stamps, SIM cards, and scales used for weighing tobacco.
Illegal activities of producing, purchasing and placing the tobacco and tobacco products without excise stamps on the market were carried out from mid-Dec. 2018 to May 2019 in order to obtain unlawful material gain.
Members of FUP acted on the orders of the Court of BiH, the statement adds.
“The persons deprived of their liberty will be criminally processed in the official premises of the FUP, and will be handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH within the statutory deadline, along with the report on the criminal offense,” FUP said.
The major illegal tobacco confiscation happened in October 2018, when members of BiH’s State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) arrested four people and confiscated one tonne of tobacco at five locations.
