Kosova Customs said on Wednesday that during a routine check in a store in the village of Hoca e Madhe in Rahovec municipality, they found that alcoholic drinks without authorization were being sold.

During the operation, customs officers confiscated 42 thousand of liters of alcoholic drinks. Customs officials said the owner of the store also produces alcoholic drinks without authorization from the customs and that the business is not registered with the Business Registration Agency. “Being that the nature of this work constitutes a criminal act, Customs has notified the State Prosecution for further action,” they said.

Customs also said that businesses are authorized for the same products in the same village and are owned by Kosovo Serbs. “They pay all the legal obligations. The activity of illegal businesses is an unfair competition against legitimate businesses,” the statement notes.

The head of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, reacted to the confiscation of the products calling it “another attack by Kurti against Serbs south of Ibar”.

“He sent his police to the center of Velika Hoca to confiscate 40 thousand liters of wine from one of the oldest wines of Petrovic. The locals gathered to protect their neighbor because they will not allow Kurti’s terror,” Petkovic wrote on Twitter.

Kosova Customs reacted to his claims by saying that the customs operation was fully legitimate.

“Yesterday some media quoted posts with false allegations by an official of the Serbian Government about the alleged unilateral actions of the Kosova Customs for the confiscation of alcoholic drinks that were produced unlawfully,” the customs said in their reaction.