Arrested customs officer Dejan Dabanovic (42) all six days when cigarettes were taken out of the warehouse of the Free Zone in the Port of Bar, he was the head of the shift.
The Acting Director of the Revenue and Customs Administration told the News Milena Petričević, explaining that it was determined that the trucks were arriving during the same part of the day.
Dabanović and the director of the company "Peročević", whose cargo ship exported cigarettes, Mamo Peročević (44), were arrested yesterday on suspicion of having participated in the theft of 11.349 packs of cigarettes, which damaged the state for more than 10,5 million euros.
Petričević clarified that 8.829 packs of cigarettes, one pack and 81 packs of various types of cigarettes, owned by that company, were stolen from the warehouse of the company "Montenegro duvan comerc".
Also stolen from the same warehouse were 2.520 packs of cigarettes that were owned by the company "Tobaco trade MNE", otherwise evidentiary material from the proceedings led by the Special State Prosecutor's Office and which they had previously seized.
"It was established that from December 28, 2021, when the first theft was recorded, until the beginning of February, the cigarettes were taken away six times, with a total of eight trucks. Not a single pack of cigarettes was taken out on February 7, when it was reported that a bomb had been planted in the Port of Bar, I am clarifying this because some media, probably in the desire to spread the news sensationally and inaccurately, interpreted something that was not said," said the acting director Revenue and Customs Administration.
They left the cut tobacco
Petričević explains that on that day, when, as it turned out, a false alarm was made, it was supposed to start listing cigarettes and tobacco products in all warehouses in the Free Customs Zone.
"An earlier inventory, carried out on June 16, 2021, in the warehouse of Montenegro tobacco merchant, found that there are 14.977 packs of cigarettes of different tobacco brands and 412 packs of cut tobacco in stock. "After the census carried out on February 8 by order of the head of the authority and the departmental assistant, which was made by the officers of the Smuggling Suppression Department of the UPC and the Police Administration, it was determined that there were 412 packs of cut tobacco and 6.148 packs of cigarettes of different brands in stock," she said. .
The head of the UPC explains that the stolen cigarettes were not entered in the register of the Tobacco Agency, which is why we cannot even talk about the retail price on the Montenegrin market.
"The value of cigarettes that are similar in terms of reputation, brand quality and shipping country, and which were placed in the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, without customs, excise and tax calculations, ranges from 80 to 105 euros per pack. As they are not registered in the register of the Tobacco Agency, in accordance with the Excise Law, a weighted price per pack - 2,5 euros was taken for calculation," she said.
Petričević explains that because of the theft of cigarettes owned by the Montenegro tobacco merchant, only for customs, excise and tax, the state was damaged for 8.275.487,91 euros, and because of the theft of those owned by "Tobaco trade MNE" for 2.362.090 euros .
Eight customs officials were suspended
After the theft was discovered, Petričević suspended eight employees of the Luka Bar Free Zone Customs Office.
He reminds that on February 7, shortly after 7:XNUMX a.m., one of the officers noted that the seal was damaged at the Montenegro tobacco warehouse and immediately, on the orders of his superiors, asked the Port of Adria security chief to review the video surveillance to determine whether there had been unauthorized entry. to that facility.
This, he explains, was interrupted due to a report of a planted bomb, but a day later it was established that unauthorized and unregistered entry of freighters into the warehouse had been repeated six times, as well as exits after a short time.
"After December 28 last year, the first unauthorized entry was in the second half of January, and then every fourth day. It is symptomatic that according to the schedule, the compositions of the customs crews were identical. Regardless of the fact that I am aware that such an act cannot be carried out without good logistics, it was a sign that I had to check the integrity and legality of the actions of my colleagues in the Customs office of the Free Zone of Port Bar, which is why I decided to suspend all the officers who covered day and night shifts on critical dates, that is, I gave an order for the suspension of eight employees", said Petričević.
She points out that she did it because of the obvious consequences of stealing a pack of cigarettes and that her decision will remain in force until the degree of individual responsibility and the circumstances in which the illegal action took place are determined.
"I especially believe that this decision of mine was necessary because it enabled the illegal export of excise goods - cigarettes without excise stamps from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, which were under customs supervision and provided with a customs mark, i.e. seal. I believe that unknown persons, including possibly my colleagues, for whose work I am directly responsible for the legality of their work, enabled an unknown person to access the customs area by using a cargo motor vehicle and that on several occasions, through the legal exit - ramps for cargo road traffic of the Free Zone and enabled them to take out the stated quantity of cigarettes without paying the customs debt", Petričević explains.
He points out that by doing so, they enabled NGOs to obtain illegal property benefits, and caused millions of dollars in damage to the budget of Montenegro.
Free zone everyone's responsibility
The Revenue and Customs Administration is not the only one responsible for the events in the Free Customs Zone of the Port of Bar, Petričević explains.
"Due to bidding in relation to the establishment of institutional responsibility for specific events, which were heard in the media in the previous days, for the sake of the public... I want to take a chronological look at the normative acts and laws that treat the Free Customs Zone and define the management of the zone and warehouses in to her. The establishment, management and conditions for carrying out economic activities in free zones are regulated by the Law on Free Zone... In this particular case, the Free Zone was established with the consent of the Government, at the proposal of the Ministry of Economy", she said.
He points out that the Free Zone is managed by the operator of the zone, which is designated as such by the Act on its establishment - and that is the Port of Bar ad
"The operator is obliged to manage the zone, to prescribe the general rules of business... decide on requests for the performance of activities, conclude contracts with users... In addition to other things, he is obliged to ensure the unhindered performance of customs, inspection and other supervision, as well as competent is for all actions related to the planning and use of the zone space, warehouses, as well as the construction of facilities in the zone", she said.
Explaining that the Port of Bar a.d., through all competent state administration bodies and local self-government bodies, is obliged to provide all planning documents, specify in contracts the land and facilities that they can use, Petričević points out that in this particular case the user was allowed to build a temporary building on the leased land or a permanent object, which is its property.
Petričević: We will know who are honorable and who are other officials
Petričević said that she will do everything that the law requires of her, which is in the description of her responsibility, that in the state institution she manages, she works exclusively according to the law, but also that she expects the police and the prosecutor's office to help her discover criminals in their ranks.
"I am obliged to clearly separate honorable and responsible employees from those who are involved in criminal activities and belong to various criminal groups. It is my decision to suspend all employees in both shifts that will show who are honest and who are corrupt officials. I hope that the competent institutions, I mean the police and the prosecutor's office, in accordance with their competences, will investigate each and every tobacco mafia outside the institutions, and that they will help me determine who specifically is from the customs officials, and especially since when, involved or provides logistics or is a member of organized criminal groups," she said.
UP: 11.349 packs of cigarettes were stolen
Yesterday, the Police Administration officially announced that during the investigation, it was found that 11.349 packs of various types of cigarettes were missing.
"After the police-prosecutor activities, the identity of the owner of the 'Volvo' motor vehicle, which loaded cigarettes from the warehouse of the company 'Montenegro duvan comerc' in the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, was established, and MP (44) from Bar, as the founder and the executive director of the legal entity 'Peročević' doo Bar on suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of smuggling and DD (42) from Bar, an employee of the Revenue and Customs Administration on suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of abuse of official position," the announcement reads.
They also said that they are undertaking further activities to establish all the circumstances of this event and to identify all persons who participated in these illegal actions.
"We emphasize that the Police Administration is not competent and does not provide security for the warehouse in the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, which is managed by the aforementioned operator, the implementation of customs control measures is carried out by the Revenue and Customs Administration, and the supervision of the implementation of the Law on Free Zones is carried out by the ministry responsible for foreign trade affairs". it is written in the press release of UP.
Bonus video:
