Twelve police officers working at the Tabanovce border police station have been charged with criminal conspiracy, receiving bribe and abuse of office and power, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

After the investigation into the commander, the deputy commander, and 10 police officers at the Tabanovce border police station, including the shift manager, material evidence was provided for their involvement in criminal activities. During the raids, objects for which there are reasonable suspicions that they originate from criminal acts through receiving bribe and abuse of office and power, said the Interior Ministry.

The members of this organized criminal group, as the Interior Ministry said, have been actively operating at the Tabanovce border crossing since September 2020, as a criminal association, and for a certain monetary reward, gifts and benefits they received from the people who crossed the state border, they did not take official actions that they were obliged to take in a coordinated manner, and they gained a large illegal material and property benefit.