A customs officer who discovered contraband worth over Br5 billion was named Man of the Year in the Vitebsk region.

January 23, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The honorary title "Person of the Year of the Vitebsk Region" has been awarded to a customs officer who seized a contraband batch of semi-precious stone jewelry worth over Br5 billion in 2009, the Vitebsk Customs informed a BELTA correspondent. Mikhail Yemelyanenko, an operative officer of the operational search department of the Vitebsk Customs, participated in operational search activities on the "Brest - Moscow" highway in March last year. During the inspection of a car carrying goods from Latvia in transit through Belarus and Russia to Kazakhstan, it was established that in addition to the goods declared in the accompanying documents, 286,689 units of semi-precious and rare-earth stone jewelry with a total value of almost 5.2 billion were additionally transported in the cargo compartment of the car. By court decision, these goods were seized for the benefit of the state. This accounts for 68% of the value of goods seized by law enforcement officers of the Vitebsk Customs in 2009. Along with the honorary title "Person of the Year of the Vitebsk Region," Mikhail Leonidovich received a substantial cash prize. However, this is not the only award for the customs officer who has served for 17 years. He has received 8 commendations from the customs leadership and a letter of gratitude from the Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Belarus. -0-