20,000 packs of cigarettes a day. Operation “Excise” continues
By order of the Minister of Internal Affairs Denis Monastyrsky, the National Police of Ukraine launched the operation “Excise”. Its main objective is to stop illegal trade without paying taxes in the markets of fuel and tobacco products.
During the testing of the market of excise products, the operatives of the Department of Strategic Investigations in the Lviv region and the investigators of the Investigative Department of the Regional Police exposed a network of outlets where tobacco products were sold without any documents about its origin. In the course of further development, wholesale channels, a place of clandestine production and organizers of illegal business were established. Residents of the Volyn region and Kyiv are involved in its functioning.
The plant was located on the territory of one of the villages of the Volyn region, where, with the help of a professional line, a full cycle of production of tobacco products was ensured - from grinding tobacco to packaging products for sale. In addition, to mask production and its uninterrupted operation, an electric substation was installed.
He worked in closed mode, there were video surveillance cameras around the perimeter of the territory. Production capacity allowed to produce up to 20,000 packs of cigarettes per day. Finished products were sold through a network of wholesale and retail trade in the western and other regions of the country. Signs of well-known tobacco manufacturers were used to market products.
On November 16, the police conducted authorized searches on the territory of the underground “workshop” for storage places of raw materials and ready-to-market products. At the time of the appearance of law enforcement officers, there were 9 workers in production. As a result of the measures, lines for the production and packaging of tobacco products, 60,000 packs of cigarettes, 5,500 kg of tobacco, paper, filters, and other components were withdrawn. The total value of the seized reaches 20 million hryvnias.
The issue of arrest of seized property and notification of suspicions to organizers and participants of clandestine business is resolved.
Procedural guidance in criminal proceedings investigated by the articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is carried out by Article 199 (Manufacture, storage, acquisition, transportation, shipment, importation into Ukraine for use in the sale of goods, sale or sale of counterfeit money, state securities existing in paper form, state lottery tickets, excise tax stamps or holographic protective elements); Article 204 (Illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transport for the purpose of marketing excisable goods) and Article 229 (Unlawful use of the mark for goods and services, brand name, qualified indication of the origin of the goods) is carried out by the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
National Police of Ukraine
