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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Customs officer who discovered 4 kilos of cocaine to be awarded with 120,000 dinars

Belgrade, 23 August 2005

Serbian Minister of Finance Mladjan Dinkic said today that a customs officer who discovered more than four kilos of cocaine at the Belgrade airport on August 19, with a street value exceeding €200,000, will be awarded with approximately six average salaries of a custom officer, which comes to 120,000 dinars.

Author: FoNet

During the visit to the customs office at the Belgrade airport, Dinkic told the press that this is an outstanding success and that nothing similar has happened in the past several years. For that reason, the Minister came to congratulate the customs officers personally.

The Serbian customs proved to be much more competent than the Argentinean and the Italian because the bag with cocaine confiscated at the Belgrade Airport passed the inspection both of the Argentinean and Italian customs and no one noticed what was inside.

According to Dinkic, the success of Serbian customs officers is even greater when taking into account that the passenger who was carrying the contraband, who is a Serbian citizen, tried to pass through a checkpoint for passengers who have no goods to report at the customs check, but the officers discovered the bag with narcotics owing to their intuition and experience.

Dinkic said that one of the goals of the Ministry of Finance is to modernise and boost the efficiency of inspection services, above all, the efficiency of the tax administration office and the customs office, and that the reconstruction of the Belgrade airport will lead to better working conditions for customs officers. He also announced higher salaries in the tax and customs administrations.

Director of the Serbian Customs Administration Dragan Jerinic said that the success of the customs officers is even greater considering their improvised working conditions, since the airport building is still being renovated.

Jerinic recalled that last year, the customs administration had confiscated more than 400 kilograms of narcotics at border crossings, and that this success has also been repeated this year due to the professional engagement of the customs officers.

The head of the Belgrade airport customs officers, Neven Spasic, said that at the airport there are 26 customs officers controlling arriving and departing passengers and that they have 52 to 54 daily flights. He also expressed hope that the customs administration will move to its new premises by September 15, when Terminal 2 of the Belgrade airport is expected to be finished.