Suspects in tobacco forgery case indicted for economic crimes

AMMAN — Prosecutors at the State Security Court (SSC) on Thursday indicted suspects in the case of illegal tobacco production and smuggling of economic crimes.

The suspects, whose number was not identified, were charged for carrying out acts that jeopardise the safety and security of the society and harming national economy, the Jordan News Petra, reported.

The indictment list also included acts that would affect the Kingdom’s economic system, customs and sales tax evasion, endangering society and fraud.

Earlier in the day, Jordan Customs Department (JCD) personnel raided three locations in the south of Amman and confiscated equipment used for producing tobacco in the same case, which has grabbed headlines in the past week, according to Petra.

The raids are part of the government follow-up on an illegal tobacco production and smuggling case that was raised during the deliberations of the Lower House's members on the new government's policy statement. 

The first site raided on Thursday was an olive press where the personnel found four printing machines, a cutting device, an amount of paperboard and stamps used to fake famous cigarette brands.

Raiding a hangar at a livestock farm, JCD cadres seized two 40ft containers where equipment was found. 

The third raid targeted another hanger where the personnel found a “complete” cigarettes production line.

Petra said that JCD agents coordinated the crackdowns with security agencies.

Also on Thursday, Jordan Food and Drug Administration’s personnel raided a farm in the south of Amman and seized tobacco manufacturing equipment, 21 tonnes of expired baby milk powder, 25,000 cans of the same material and 5 tonnes of loose tobacco, according to Petra. 

In addition to the raids, the government issued a travel ban against seven people and arrested 14.

On Monday, Minister of State for Media Affairs Jumana Ghunaimat announced that arrest warrants had been issued for 30 suspects who are allegedly involved in the case.  

She was quoted as saying on Wednesday that eight of these were abroad and one was deceased.

Citizens taking to social media, as well as MPs, demanded that businessman Awni Mutee, the main suspect in the case and the alleged owner of a tobacco factory, be brought back from Lebanon, where he flew on July 12 a day before the crackdown on suspected manufacturing facilities began.

The case was initially referred to the prosecution office at the JCD, where the prosecutor general, according to a government statement, found that some of the crimes involved fall under their jurisdiction of the SSC, and in the final opinion decided that the JCD court lacks jurisdiction, especially since the details of the tobacco case are “interlaced”.