
Within 24 hours, another operation against oil smuggling from Tunisia has been finalized in Durrës. After 670 thousand liters seized yesterday afternoon, Operation "Black Gold" has continued with the seizure of 400,000 liters of oil and the ship in whose ballast this quantity was hidden.
"Following police actions, with the aim of cracking down on cases of smuggling of very large quantities of oil from Tunisia by ship, the Economic and Financial Crimes Investigation Section of the Durrës DVP, the Anti-Smuggling and the Operational Support Section of the Investigation of the Durrës DVP, the Directorate for the Investigation of Economic and Financial Crimes of the DPPSh, the Border and Migration Directorate of Durrës, the Guardia di Finanza Durrës, as well as the Durrës Customs Branch, finalized the police operation codenamed "Black Gold 2".
During the operation, Syrian citizens MS, 56 years old, the ship's captain, WB, 42 years old, assistant to the first officer, HB, 47 years old, chief engineer, S. Sh., 25 years old, chief of the workshop, FI, 23 years old, oil pump maintainer, as well as Albanian citizen NM, 34 years old, first officer of the ship, were arrested in flagrante delicto. From the control on the ship, in the ballasts that serve to balance the vehicle, 400,000 liters of suspected smuggled oil from Tunisia were found," the police inform.
For the second ship carrying smuggled oil, 6 citizens have been arrested by the police and 5 Syrians, Egyptians and Albanians, members of the ship's crew, are under investigation.
Those arrested are Mohammed Sallit, Wissan Broud, Hassan Broud, Sami Shanta, Faez Ismaeil and Nedio Mejdani.
Meanwhile, the 2 suspected organizers of the incident have been declared wanted.
"Also, the suspected organizers of this case, citizens JK, 31 years old, resident of Tirana, and SS, 32 years old, resident of Durrës, were identified and declared wanted. Intensive work continues to locate and capture them," the police announced.