The Strumica Sector for Internal Affairs – Radovish Police Department, filed criminal charges with the Radovish Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office against T.D. (62) and S.D. (62), both from Radovish, on reasonable suspicion that they committed the continuing criminal offense of “production and placing on the market of harmful food and other products” under Article 213 of the Criminal Code.
For several years, the suspects had been producing ice as unregistered producers in improvised and unhygienic conditions and placing the unsafe product on the market for sale to other legal entities and individuals.
On September 16, 2026, based on a court order, police officers from the Strumica Sector for Internal Affairs – Radovish Police Department, in coordination with a state food inspector from the Food and Veterinary Agency, conducted searches at a house and other premises at four locations used by the suspects.
During the searches, freezers containing a large number of bags filled with ice cubes were found on the ground-floor terrace of the house where the suspects lived. The ice had been stored there for sale on a self-service basis, with the money from the sales being left in a separate box.
Four ice-cube-making machines and another refrigerator-freezer containing a large quantity of ice cubes packed in bags for sale were also found in the basement premises of the house.
Following instructions from the state inspector, a professional team from an accredited laboratory for food and water testing collected samples of the water used as raw material in the ice production process, samples of the finished ice product from bags taken from three freezers, as well as swabs from the ice-production equipment.
According to the microbiological and chemical analysis report, only the water sample met the required parameters under the Rulebook on Requirements for the Safety and Quality of Drinking Water. None of the other samples met the required parameters, and the presence of Escherichia coli and coliform bacteria was confirmed, establishing that the ice was unsafe for consumption and harmful to human health due to contamination with bacteria of fecal origin.
Following the results, the Food and Veterinary Agency sealed and seized the ice-making machines and freezers containing approximately 850 kilograms of finished ice.
During the searches, it was also established that the ice production was supplied with water through connections installed at several locations. Employees of the Public Enterprise “Plavaja” from Radovish determined that the water used in the basement was not being measured through a water meter.
In addition, during the search of the suspects’ facility at a location known as “Gladno Pole,” in the territory of Radovish, which was determined to have been illegally constructed, an air rifle was found and seized. The suspects possessed the firearm without the required documentation.
Following the complete documentation of the cases concerning the illegally constructed facility and the seized air rifle, the Strumica Sector for Internal Affairs – Radovish Police Department will file appropriate charges.
Both suspects were deprived of their liberty and detained at the Radovish Police Station.