PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BIH AND SIPA CARRIED OUT TWO OPERATIONS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME AND ILLICIT TRADE IN EXCISE PRODUCTS

 During the course of several months of investigations evidence was gathered about persons involved in these illegal activities that caused damages to the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina and caused harm to citizens due to the production and distribution of tobacco products that did not meet production and quality standards and that endanger the health of citizens.

In the operation codenamed "Derby" in more than 15 locations in the area of Posavina, Western Herzegovina and Zenica, several tons of tobacco were discovered and seized, as well as material for the production of illegal cigarettes, large amounts of money and other evidence.

 

Operation "Corset", which was carried out in the area of Banja Luka and Laktaši resulted in the seizure of large quantities of illegal tobacco and cigarettes.

 

The activities carried out included about 15 persons whose illegal actions were thoroughly documented during the investigation, hence, the investigation in these cases is expected to be completed soon.

 

As part of the fight against the illicit trade in excise goods, one person was detained in the area of Sarajevo after several hundreds of kilograms of cut tobacco were found.

 

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, together with partner police agencies, the ITA of BiH and other institutions, conducts a large number of activities in the fight against illegalities related to the illegal trade and production of tobacco and tobacco products, especially in forms of organized crime in which a large number of persons obtain illegal financial gains in large amounts and cause multimillion damages to the BiH budget and all citizens