18,000 cakes stolen from landfill and resold

18,000 cakes stolen from landfill and resold

The theft happened on December 24, while video footage from the city's waste management company Cistoca's security cameras showed the cakes, believed to be spoiled, were taken away from the landfill in the public company's trucks.

Nikolic told reporters that he "accidentally" learned about the case on January 2, and that Cistoca's official documentation shows the food items were allegedly destroyed at the landfill.

The mayor accused "an organized group" of stealing the cakes and endangering the health of those citizens who then bought them "in suspicious places and at suspicious prices."

Nikolic also announced that a commission had been set up to investigate the case. Meanwhile, the National Organization of Consumers of Serbia posted a photograph of the stolen cakes, warning citizens not to buy them.

The cakes are still being resold in the black market, the watchdog announced.

According to the authorities, the owner of the cakes decided to dispose of them after noticing that refrigeration units where the cakes were stored were malfunctioning. He contacted the veterinary inspection in Kragujevac, whose inspectors ordered the food taken off the market and destroyed.

Head of the Veterinary Inspectorate Sana Celebicanin said that they received written confirmation that the cakes had been transported to the landfill, but that this institution's representatives were not under legal obligation to be present as the items were destroyed.

The stolen cakes did not have proper labels attached to them, "so anyone who bought them in the street also carries the responsibility," she said, and added that mistakes were made by "several persons" - and above all by the security at the city landfill in Kragujevac.