Cherkasy region: National Police exposes clandestine tobacco shop in former military unit
Kyiv • UNN
Police shut down an illegal tobacco factory in Cherkasy region, seizing equipment and 150,000 packs of cigarettes worth UAH 20 million.
In Cherkasy region, law enforcement officers liquidated an underground tobacco shop on the territory of a former military unit. This was reported by the Main Directorate of the National Police of Cherkasy region, UNN reports.
Details
Employees of the Strategic Investigations Department and the Main Investigation Department of the National Police disrupted the activities of an underground tobacco shop in Cherkasy region.
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It is noted that the locals set up production on the territory of a former military unit. An industrial line, tobacco drying and packaging equipment was installed in one of the premises.
The finished products were sold under the guise of domestic and foreign tobacco producers through a network of wholesale and retail trade in Cherkasy, Kyiv and Vinnytsia regions.
The criminal proceedings are being investigated under Articles 199 (Manufacturing, storage, acquisition, transportation, shipment, importation into Ukraine for use in the sale of goods, sale or sale of counterfeit money, government securities in paper form, state lottery tickets, excise tax stamps or holographic security elements) and 204 (Illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transportation for sale of excisable goods) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine
Addendum
The National Police said that the production capacity of the clandestine workshop allowed for the production of more than 50,000 packs of cigarettes per day.
To disguise the production's consumption of a significant amount of electricity and ensure that the industrial line operates at its full capacity, the company was equipped with a diesel substation.
The dealers also installed video surveillance cameras around the perimeter of the territory.
Law enforcement officers said that during the operation on January 2, they seized an industrial line for the production of cigarettes, drying equipment, 150,000 packs of cigarettes, and packaging. The total amount of the seized goods is estimated at UAH 20 million.
It is noted that the documenting and exposing measures were carried out jointly with the employees of the Excise Goods Control Department of the State Tax Service of Ukraine under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office.
Recall
Law enforcers seized a batch of cigarettes from illicit trafficking in Odesa region. The inspection revealed and seized more than 302 thousand packs of Russian-made cigarettes worth over UAH 6 million.