Kosovo authorities are investigating ten people suspected of smuggling goods worth thousands of euros to northern Kosovo.
Kosovo Police Deputy Director for the Northern Region Veton Elshani confirmed to Radio Free Europe that ten suspects were detained Thursday during an action in the north and brought to the tribunal at a hearing and then released until investigations into them continued.
Earlier, the Constitutional Prosecutor in Mitrovica said in a communique that the action took place following six months’ investigation. Over the period, more than 22 vehicles have generally been seized, as well as goods worth over 200,000 euros, according to the announcement.
The investigation, conducted in co-operation with the Kosovo Police, the Kosovo Agency for Intelligence and Customs, has reportedly uncovered and halted the suspicious activity of introducing goods from Serbia’s territory on Kosovo’s territory through illegal roads.
Kosovo police have already held shares against smuggling goods from Serbia through alternative routes to the north, where most of the population make up Serbs. During such an action, in 2021 there were also clashes following local residents’ opposition, while police used tear gas to disperse protesters.
With alternative roads north of Kosovo usually meant illegal border crossings with Serbia, which in time, for the most part, have been brought under police control.
The prosecution’s announcement in Mitrovica explains that, since April, during the investigation the illegal locations and roads through which goods were introduced to Kosovo territory have again been identified.
From May until September 2026, more than 20 shares have been held in the border areas and in the municipalities of Zubin Potok, Zvecan, Leposaviqi and North Mitrovica, the report said.
Among the smuggled goods were food products, unmarked drugs, drinks, toilet products and textiles, according to authorities.
For these goods, origin, storage, and transportation are not known, nor is the deadline for use, for which they pose a direct threat to the health of citizens. At the same time, such activities cause damage to the state budget and businesses operating in accordance with the law, the announcement further states.
Otherwise, after the armed attack on Banjska in 2023, Kosovo institutions closed more than 20 alternative roads believed to lead towards Serbia.
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Source Layer: Signal
