A channel for supplying smuggled e-cigarettes from the European Union has been exposed in Ukraine. The goods worth more than nine million hryvnias were seized. This was reported by the Bureau of Economic Security, UNN reports.
According to law enforcement officers, a group of people organized the transportation of excisable goods outside of customs control and concealed from customs control at checkpoints in Lviv and Volyn regions.
The e-cigarettes were smuggled into Ukraine by a citizen of one of the European Union countries. Later, disposable e-cigarettes filled with nicotine-containing mixture and nicotine-containing e-liquids for electronic vaporizers were sold on Telegram.
"The detectives conducted searches at the suspects' residences, warehouses and vehicles. More than 19 thousand pieces of e-cigarettes, e-liquids, and devices for electronic vaporizers were seized. The estimated value of the seized items is over UAH 9 million," the BES reported.
They added that the pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
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Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, previously saidthat due to the growing popularity of e-cigarettes, experts have been conducting more frequent studies of tobacco products for electric heating and e-cigarette liquids.
"Since the beginning of the year, we have been systematically assigned to examine classic tobacco products, electrically heated tobacco products, so-called HTPs, and e-cigarette liquids. The recent increase in popularity and associated risks of e-cigarettes has been even greater than that of conventional cigarettes. In almost every assigned examination, experts are provided with up to 150-200 objects, i.e. samples of the relevant products, each of which must be properly examined," Ruvin said.