SERBIA: Customs officials at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovinia have seized 17 cylinders of counterfeit R134a refrigerant.
The cylinders were discovered in the luggage compartment of a bus crossing the Serbian border at Kotroman. They were marked as R134a but were seized because the consignment did not carry the necessary import and export licenses as required by Serbia's Ministry of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning.
Customs officials found no irregularities with the cylinders; the bottles were color-painted and packed in original packaging. However, later tests carried out at the customs office in Uzice revealed that the cylinders actually contained a mixture of gases including R22 and R12.
According to customs regulations, the bus driver was fined 100,000 dinars (£668) for the smuggling offense.