INDICTMENT ISSUED AGAINST FOUR PERSONS CHARGED WITH ORGANIZED SMUGGLING AND DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS ON WHICH DUTIES WERE NOT PAID, SMUGGLING OF GOODS AND ILLICIT TRADE IN EXCISE PRODUCTS

These accused persons are charged with organized cross-border smuggling and sale of large quantities of cigarettes without excise stamps on the illegal market, whereby they acquired large amounts of unlawful material gain.

Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption has issued an Indictment against the following persons:

1.       Nenad Petreš, born in 1973 in Banja Luka

2.       Predrag Pećanac aka "Draško", born in 1965 in Drvar

3.       Mustafa Hadžiavdić aka "Staf", born in 1966 in Tuzla

4.       Marijana Despenić, born in 1976 in Banja Luka

These accused persons are charged with becoming members of an organized group for smuggling and distribution of goods on which duties were not paid, in 2017, and with smuggling, on several occasions, of excise goods - cigarettes from the territory of Serbia and Montenegro to the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with smuggling of larger quantities of various brands of cigarettes from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the territory of Croatia, which they were then selling to persons known to them and in that way they acquired large amounts of unlawful material gain and caused damage to the budget and the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the allegations in the Indictment, the accused persons used several passenger motor vehicles (cars) to commit the aforesaid criminal offences, some of which had specially built compartments and hideouts for smuggling goods across the border.

On several occasions, these accused persons were detected while they were attempting to smuggle the goods and they were prevented from doing so by police officers from the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

These accused persons are charged with the commission of the criminal offence of Organizing a Group or Association for Smuggling or Distribution of Goods on Which Duties Were Not Paid, as referred to in Article 215, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with a continued criminal offence of Smuggling of Goods, as referred to in Article 214, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with a continued criminal offence of Illicit Trade in Excise Products, as referred to in Article 210a, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.