The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) issued an announcement about the “Sljivica” operation, which was launched on Tuesday, July 9, and referred to the results of police activities in this direction so far.
As announced, on July 9, 2024, police officers of the State Agency for Investigation and Protection, with the support of the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska, the Ministry of Interior of the Tuzla Canton and the Indirect Tax Administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, conducted an operational action codenamed “Sljivice” and, in accordance with the orders of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, conducted searches of persons, buildings and movable property at 18 locations in the area of Tuzla, Živinice, Lukavac, Gračanica, Šamac, Bijeljina and Zvornik.
One suspect is on the run, while 13 suspects were deprived of their liberty during the conduct of the operational action and were interrogated as suspects at the premises of the State Agency for Investigation and Protection by order of the prosecutor. Subsequently, the persons were processed in accordance with the instructions of the acting prosecutor.
The detainees are accused of having committed the offence of ‘organised crime’ in connection with the offences ‘illegal trafficking in excisable goods’, ‘illegal storage of goods’, ‘illegal trade’ and ‘money laundering’ provided for in the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the search, the following items were found and provisionally seized, which can be used as evidence in a criminal case and can be linked to the commission of crimes of which the suspects are suspected, as well as the commission of other crimes: 36,500 packs of cigarettes, money – about 9,000 BAM, three passenger cars, about 100 kg of tobacco in leaves, about 230 kg of cut tobacco, empty filters for filling cigarettes – about 59,000 pieces, two machines for cutting tobacco, two machines for filling cigarettes, five manual machines for filling cigarettes, three digital scales, 15 mobile phones, 14 SIM cards and a video surveillance recorder. The value of the provisionally seized goods and items is about 450,000 BAM.
