WORLD
Export of $1 million worth smuggled amber to Hungary blocked in Ukraine’s border
Baku, October 2, AZERTAC
Officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) jointly with the Prosecutor’s office blocked the export of smuggled amber with the weight of more than one ton to the European countries in Zakarpattia region, the press office of the SBU reported.
‘Law enforcement officers found a local resident with illegally extracted sunstone in VAN at “Luzhnyky” customs post. The stuff was placed in trunk compartment and was packed into travel bags. Operational services established that one of the customs officers facilitated the smuggling of the amber across the state border of Ukraine’.
According to preliminary assessments, the cost of the stone is almost $1 million in the black market. The SBU officers detained the customs officer under the article of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine for illicit processing of smuggling. In the framework of criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, urgent investigative and operational actions are continuing to bring to justice other persons, possibly involved in unlawful actions.
Earlier, the SBU personnel exposed the group of the fence and seized almost 50 kilograms of illegally extracted amber raw material in Ukraine's Rivne region. The law enforcement officers established that four residents of one of the districts were buying illegally mined amber from local residents for the future sale abroad.