Customs officer faces refrigerant smuggling charge

LATVIA: A former Latvian customs officer faces criminal charges after being accused of aiding the smuggling of refrigerant into Latvia from Russia.

According to the Kriminal.lv website, the unnamed officer was a senior customs overseer of the country’s State Revenue Service who provided information to a co-accused individual to assist in the smuggling of refrigerant from Russia.

The offence is reported to have involved 100 10.9kg cylinders of refrigerant (suggesting it was probably R404A).