Cancer Drug in a First Aid Kit at Bogorodica: Why Was the Driver Also Carrying 30 Labels?

In a bus entering the country through the Bogorodica border crossing, customs officers found something that has no business being in any first aid kit: 29 vials of the drug "Xgeva," used in the treatment of patients with malignant diseases. Value - 336,000 denars, around 5,400 euros. They were hidden by the bus driver, a Kosovo citizen.

Alongside the vials, 29 little boxes and 30 self-adhesive labels were packed in a black plastic bag. What the labels were for, the Customs Administration's statement doesn't say a word. But when someone is carrying a drug, separate boxes and stickers, the question asks itself: in what packaging was this drug supposed to reach the person who would take it?

This isn't cigarette smuggling. Importing cancer drugs is strictly regulated and requires permits from the competent institutions, and transport is subject to special standards too. A drug that travels hidden in a bus, outside the prescribed conditions, can become unsafe, Customs warns. And at the end of the chain stands a patient who is already fighting for their life.

Criminal charges for smuggling have been filed against the driver. The Customs Administration says that this year mobile teams and officers at border crossings have seized more than 30,000 units of medicines. A number that sounds like a success for the controls - but also like proof that the black market in medicines is alive and well supplied.

The real question is the one that isn't in any statement: why would anyone buy a cancer drug that arrived hidden in a bus? Because it isn't available, because there's a waiting list, or because it's cheaper that way? As long as that question goes unanswered, customs will keep catching vials - and the market will keep asking for them.