The Customs Administration has announced a significant increase in revenue collection and a surge in criminal charges filed during the first quarter of this year. Revenue collection reached almost 480 million euros, exceeding last year’s figures by 13.6 million euros.

Director of the Customs Administration, Boban Nikolovski, revealed these results on the occasion of Customs Administration Day, highlighting a positive trend in revenue collection. Customs revenues have increased by 15.6 percent, excise duties by 5.7 percent, and motor vehicle tax by 16.2 percent.

In the first quarter, there were 143 cases of seizures, which is 77 percent more compared to the same period last year. Mobile customs teams made over 100 seizures, equaling the annual average from 2017 to 2023.

Nikolovski emphasized that increased controls and teamwork are responsible for the positive results. The Sector for Control and Investigations collected 20 million denars through checks and controls, with decisions made for an additional collection of 5.7 million denars.

A total of 102 criminal charges have been filed with the prosecutor’s offices in the first five months of 2024, surpassing the total of 85 criminal charges filed between 2020 and 2023. These charges target 58 legal entities and 184 natural persons.

The Customs Administration also disrupted an organized crime scheme involving used vehicles, filing 12 criminal charges against 6 legal and 30 natural persons.

Seizures included 188.6 kilograms of marijuana, 1.7 kilograms of gold jewelry worth half a million euros, about 600 kilograms of anabolic steroids, and 6.4 kilograms of silver.

Investments worth 24.4 million euros, funded by the World Bank, the Republic of Korea, the EU, and the national Budget, are currently underway.