On 16 April 2009, Slovenian police and customs officers discovered 128 kg of marijuana at the border crossing for international traffic Obrežje in a goods vehicle, driven by a driver travelling from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Switzerland. This is one of the largest discoveries and seizures in recent years. Representatives of the General Police Directorate and Customs Administration of the RS revealed some of the details at today's press conference.
Director of Brežice Customs Office Ivan Lah said that on 16 April customs officers of the border crossing examined a goods vehicle with a trailer with Bosnia and Herzegovina license plates. The documentation stated that the truck was loaded with charcoal that the driver was transporting it from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Switzerland.
During the inspection with an endoscope, the customs officers established that the under-body of the trailer had a double floor, where the smuggled goods were hidden. The double floor had two spaces; one was in front of the axle of the semi-trailer with an area of 5 m2, the other was in the rear part of the vehicle with an area of 1,3 m2. The customs officers took a sample from the smaller opening in the modified space. A quick test reacted to the illegal drug - marihuana. They unloaded some charcoal palettes with a lift truck from the rear part of the trailer, where they found the lid of the double bottom; under the floor the customs officers noticed several brown packages. They protected the scene and notified the Border Police Station Obrežje.
In the modified space in the rear part of the semi-trailer, a customs officer and criminal police officer found 18 packages of illegal drugs. When they unscrewed the glued plates at the bottom of the semi-trailer, they found another 102 packages. An investigation of plant particles from the packages confirmed that the material was an illegal drug - cannabis. In total, they discovered 120 packages of the illegal drug with gross weight of 128 kg.
The estimated value of the drug amounted to 300.000 EUR.
Criminal police officers seized the illegal drug and the goods vehicle. The driver, a 47-year-old citizen of Serbia with a permanent residence in Serbia and temporary residence in Switzerland, was taken into detention under suspicion of a criminal offence and ordered 48-hour custody on the basis of the provisions of Article 157/2 of the Criminal Procedure Act. On 18 April, on the basis of a criminal complaint due to reasonable suspicion of committing a criminal offence of illicit production of and trafficking in illicit drugs, illicit substances in sports and precursor substances for manufacturing illicit drugs in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 186 of the Penal Code-1, the driver was brought to a hearing on the District Court of Kranj, where a detention order was made against him.
On the basis of the collected notes and verification of the transport documentation, criminal police officers established that the goods vehicle was headed from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Switzerland; therefore, the criminal investigation shall continue within the context of international police cooperation.