A Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH is in the Operation Headquarters supervising the operation which involves hundreds of police officers of SIPA and ITA. Police forces of HNC and WHC MoI are providing support with the searches and arrest at their respective locations.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH is being directly informed about all of the activities, given that this is one of the most complex cases of organized crime in post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina. It concerns, inter alia, tax evasions amounting to more than BAM 11 million perpetrated by way of establishing and then dissolving fictitious companies with remaining heavy tax debts. The above-mentioned companies are engaged in import, production and processing of meat and meat products

These multimillion-BAM amounts are the amounts of damages caused to the BiH budget, and thus all the citizens of our country.

Activities are being carried out on a total of 14 locations in towns located in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some 10 suspects will be apprehended and three companies searched.

During the course of the operation "Meat" the buildings and businesses owned or used by the following suspects was searched:

Ivanković-Lijanović Jerko (1969)

Ivanković-Lijanović Slavo (1957)

Ivanković-Lijanović Jozo (1962)

Ivanković-Lijanović Mladen (1960)

Bahilj Milorad (1953)

Slišković Jozo (1956)

Ivanković Venka (1941)

Mikulić Željko (1959)

Ivanković Zdravko (1968)

Kvesić Draženko (1968)

Čolak Miroslav (1941)

Ivanković Lijan-Stipe (1933)

Šakota Mirjana (1958)

Galić Mirko (1954)

Within the scope of the operation documents and evidence were seized during the search of the following companies:

"Lijanovići" LLC. Široki Brijeg

"Kora - fin" LLC. Široki

"Velmos Company" JSC. Mostar

The aforementioned suspects are under investigation and are suspected of criminal offenses of Organized Crime under Article 250, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with the criminal offense of Failure to Pay Taxes under Article 211, the criminal offense of Tax Evasion or Fraud under Article 210 and criminal offense of Money Laundering under Article 209 of the CC BiH.

Following the questioning of the suspects, the Assigned Prosecutor will decide on a motion for remand in custody or a motion for order of prohibiting measures in accordance with the law.

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH would like to thank all the police agencies which participated in this operation and in the investigation in this case.