30 November 2001
Eighteen heavy-duty trucks' cargo valued at millions of dollars confiscated in Brest
A judge of a district court in Brest on November 27 ruled that the cargo of three more heavy-duty trucks out of the 21-vehicle convoy that was intercepted in Belarus earlier this month should be confiscated. As a
result of three court sessions held the previous week, the judge examined evidence concerning 15 of the 21 trucks, and also ruled that their load should be forfeited to the public domain as contraband. The shipment included televisions, laser printers, clothes and other expensive goods, although the shipping documents said that facing
ceramic tile, which is subject to minimum customs duty, was in the trucks. As the court investigation established, the drivers were to be handed new shipping documents after crossing the Belarusian-Polish border, and to head for Russia.
The confiscated load of the 18 trucks, which is valued at 5,400 million rubels ($3.6 million), will be distributed to retail stores throughout the country. The trucks themselves were not confiscated and will be returned to their owners. The fate of the remaining three trucks' load will be decided after material about the case is submitted to the
court, the judge told BelaPAN. The twenty-one trucks were stopped by Belarusian authorities in the Kobrin district, Brest region, after the
convoy crossed Belarus' Polish border at the Kozlovichi checkpoint and passed through the Brestgruzavtoservis customs terminal.
The shipping documents designated an Arizona, United States, based firm called Salem as the consignor. The cargo was transported to Finland by sea and then it was carried to Poland where it was loaded into the trucks, which were owned by carriers based in Russia and Belarus, including Brest.
The consignee failed to be identified because the shipping documents had only the address: Skaryna Avenue, Minsk. The customs clearance papers were made out in dummy persons' names. The regional branch of the Committee for State Security (KGB) suspects Brest customs officers of participation in the smuggling. Criminal proceedings have
been instituted in connection with the incident.
http://brestonline.com/en/news/news114.html