Hungarian citizen Balász K. was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in the trafficking of acetic-acid anhydride. The verdict of the Trnava District Court is not effective yet, the SITA newswire wrote, as the defendant appealed it.
After two sentenced Slovenians, Balász K. is the third person sentenced in the closely case of the transport of anhydride from Slovakia to Turkey. The investigation found that the anhydride, which is a precursor for production of heroin was meant for Afghanistan. It would be worth more than €2 million on the local market. Balázs K., father of four, secured the transport between Slovakia and Hungary and stored it in rooms that he did not own. The court found that the Hungarian was involved only in one part of the operation, and it was not proven that he knew about the planned transport of anhydride all the way to Afghanistan. The prosecutor asked for a 20-year sentence for him, and he wants to use the deadline for appealing the verdict.
Seven countries were involved in the sting operation on the case, but the arrests were made early after the Turkish police detained the truck sooner than planned. The Czech truck driver Zdeněk Pekara had no idea about the true contents of the load, but the nevertheless spent Christmas in Turkish jail. The Slovak Interior Ministry compensated him with €25,000.
(Source: SITA)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
