The police has detained ten persons, including three police officers and five customs officers, during an operation in Kumanovo, Skopje and Tetovo early on Tuesday. Nine are suspected of smuggling, three of whom also for narcotics distribution.

During November 2021, four of them, including two police officers, twice participated in an unauthorized transfer for the sale of precursors, from the Customs Office at Skopje International Airport to the green belt near the state border between our country and Kosovo. The suspected customs officers acted contrary to their official competencies and did not perform proper control of the goods in accordance with the declaration.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office informed that a competent public prosecutor had issued an order to conduct an investigation against the nine persons, two of whom were police officers and five customs officers. The persons, as they pointed out from there, are suspected of smuggling, and three of them are charged with unauthorized production and distribution of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.

The suspects will be brought before a judge in a preliminary procedure at the Basic Criminal Court – Skopje today. The competent prosecutor from the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption, assessing that the conditions are met, will propose to the court that all suspects are detained. The Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Interior and the Customs Administration continue to work intensively on clearing up the case.