Badovinci border: 23 police, four customs officers arrested
Acting on orders from the anti-corruption department in Novi Sad, 25 people were detained at the Badovinci crossing, among them 23 border police and four customs officers suspected of bribery.
- At the Badovinci crossing, 25 people were detained, among them 23 border police and 4 customs officers.
- The operation was carried out on orders from the Special Anti-Corruption Department of the prosecution in Novi Sad.
- They are suspected of letting people and goods cross the border without any inspection in exchange for bribes.
- The alleged illegal activity ran from late December 2024 to May 2025; two suspects are still being sought.
At the Badovinci border crossing, 25 people were detained on suspicion of involvement in corruption offences. Among those arrested, 23 had been acting as police officers and four as customs officers. The operation was carried out on orders from the Special Anti-Corruption Department of the prosecution in Novi Sad.
The suspects are accused of acting contrary to their official duties by allowing a number of people to cross the state border and move goods without the required inspection. According to the prosecution, the officers allegedly received money and other benefits for this, while control procedures were deliberately bypassed.
A total of 11 public prosecutors were deployed in the field, supported by the Internal Control Sector of the Ministry of the Interior. This is one of the larger operations targeting corruption at the state border in recent times. Two suspects are still being sought.
What are the suspects accused of?
According to the prosecution, the illegal activity at the Badovinci crossing went on for an extended period, from late December 2024 to May 2025. During those months, it is alleged, the suspected officers let people and goods through for bribes, bypassing the regular border and customs procedures.
Two suspects, identified by the initials R. J. and Dj. J, are accused of giving money and gifts to the police and customs officers. According to the investigation, they appear as the party that organised the bribery, while the officers at the crossing were allegedly the recipients.
It should be stressed that this is still the investigation phase. None of the suspects has been convicted, and the charge of corruption offences applies only after the investigation is completed and a possible indictment is filed. At this stage, the prosecution is gathering evidence and questioning those detained.
How was the operation carried out?
The operation was led by the Special Anti-Corruption Department at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad, which is responsible for such cases. The involvement of the Interior Ministry’s Internal Control Sector points to the fact that some of the suspects come from the ranks of the border police itself, so internal control had a role in gathering intelligence.
The Badovinci border crossing sits on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Macva district, and is one of the crossings with regular freight and passenger traffic. The suspicion that a large number of officers acted outside procedure for years raises the question of how effective systematic control at the crossings really was.
In further work, the prosecution will need to establish the full scope of the alleged irregularities, the number of people who benefited from this and the total value of goods that crossed the border without inspection. Those detained will be questioned, after which a decision on possible custody will follow.
How much trust can citizens place in border crossing controls until cases like this are fully resolved?
