Nis Highway Bust: 490 Kg of Tobacco, 60,000 Cigarettes
Police seized 490 kilograms of tobacco and 60,000 cigarettes on the Belgrade-Nis highway and arrested a driver from the Bogatic area on suspicion of illegal trade in excise goods.
Police stopped a vehicle on the Belgrade-Nis highway and found 490 kilograms of rolled tobacco and 60,000 hand-rolled cigarettes inside. The driver had no documentation for the goods, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
The seizure came out of an operation by Ministry of Interior (MUP) officers in Nis targeting the illegal sale of tobacco and cigarettes. Police arrested S. N. (35), from the Bogatic area and listed in the MUP statement as born in 1991. He is suspected of the criminal offense of illegal trade in excise goods.
The seized tobacco and cigarettes were handed over to the Tax Police in Nis.
Accounts differ on which prosecutor’s office ordered the arrest. The MUP statement opens by saying S. N. was arrested on the order of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Nis, then states in its final paragraph that his 48 hour detention was ordered by the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Aleksinac. The portal TV Zona Plus reports that the arrest itself was carried out on the order of the prosecutor’s office in Aleksinac. N1 does not specify which prosecutor’s office has jurisdiction over the case.
The suspect was ordered held for up to 48 hours. He will be brought before the competent prosecutor along with a criminal complaint, who will decide on the further course of the proceedings.
MUP published the seizure statement on September 10.
