A ship with a Liberian flag, which was transporting 22,500 tons of diesel with forged documentation, which was going to be smuggled in Albania, has been blocked this Monday in Durres Port.
From the first investigative actions, it is suspected that this oil shipment was taken from countries with an oil embargo, specifically from Russia.
The vessel had departed from Azerbaijan and it is alleged that it was then loaded with oil at the port of Kallamata, Greece, from another vessel, in the amount of 22,500 tones of diesel fuel.
Based on reasonable suspicion that this quantity of oil originated from embargoed countries and was smuggled, since proper documentation was not available, it and the captain’s navigation documentation were seized, as well as the crew consisting of 22 citizen, for carrying out further procedural actions.
“In the operation, the Local Directorate of the Durrës Police, the Directorate for the Investigation of Economic and Financial Crime in the Criminal Police Department of the State Police, the Border Police of the Port of Durrës, the Anti-Smuggling Directorate, the customs authorities of the port, the coast guard and the Captaincy of the Port of Durrës , under the direction of the Prosecutor’s Office at the Durrës Judicial District Court.
The police structures operating in Durres, especially the Section for Economic and Financial Crime in DVP Durres, following successive operations carried out in recent months, with the aim of cracking down on oil smuggling coming from Libya and other countries, have continuously ensured , through intelligence, information about a Liberian-flagged ship that would be smuggling a very large amount of oil.
Based on this information, the police operation coded “Embargo” was organized and is ongoing, in the framework of which a Liberian-flagged ship was blocked, which was transporting 22,500 tons of oil, with forged documentation, that was to be smuggled to Albania. .
From the first investigative actions, it is suspected that this oil shipment was taken from countries with an oil embargo, specifically from Russia. The vessel had departed from Azerbaijan and it is alleged that it was then loaded with oil at the port of Kallamata, Greece, from another vessel, in the amount of 22,500 tones of diesel fuel.
Following the actions, based on reasonable suspicions that this amount of oil originated from the embargoed countries and was smuggled, since no proper documentation was available, it was seized and the captain’s navigation documentation, as well as the blocking of the crew, which consisted of 22 citizens, for carrying out further procedural actions.
The investigation group, under the direction of the Prosecutor’s Office, is continuing the in-depth investigations, with the aim of documenting this illegal activity as fully as possible and to identify the citizens involved in this activity, as natural or legal persons”, announced the police.
/abcnews.al
