Estonian and Russian customs cooperate to fight customs crime

TALLINN - Deputy director general of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board Egon Veermäe and Russian Federal Customs Service deputy head in law enforcement sphere Aleksandr Vassilyev signed on Wednesday a plan for fighting customs crime, Postimees Online reports.

The priorities of the common activities include the fight against illegal trade with tobacco products, illegal handling of drugs and their source materials and customs fraud concerning goods of high value.

Veermäe said that organised crime works across borders and in order to fight it, cooperation and information exchange between states is necessary. "Law enforcement cooperation and well functioning information exchange with the Russian customs service is important or Estonia. The recent big discoveries regarding narcotics and illegal cigarettes prove it has been effective." he said.