Counterfeit cigarettes and 85 kilograms of amber: law enforcement officers detained on-duty dealers
As a result of preventive measures aimed at preventing violations in the sphere of sales of the excise group of goods, in two districts of Zaporizhia law enforcement officers found almost 19 thousand packs of tobacco products without excise tax stamps.
During the service of public order protection, employees of the prevention sector of the police department No. 4 of the Zaporizhzhya district administration received prompt information on the possible illegal circulation of excisable goods.
In the course of its implementation within the framework of criminal proceedings opened under Part 1 of Art. 204 (Illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transportation for the purpose of sale of excisable goods) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, police officers received temporary access to illegal cargo (7 parcels) at one of the post offices of Komunarsky district.
During their inspection, the police discovered and seized 14,460 packs of non-smoking cigarettes of various trademarks.
Another fact of illegal circulation of counterfeit products was exposed by employees of Melitopol RUP. During the service for the protection of public order in the Alexandrovsky district, law enforcement officers stopped the Renault car.
During a visual inspection of the cabin and luggage compartment of the vehicle, police found three bags and boxes, containing a large number of tobacco products of unknown origin. The taxi passenger — a 38-year-old local resident — refused to provide any explanation regarding the cargo found.
Employees of the investigative and operational team of the territorial police unit, who arrived at the scene, found and removed 4360 packs of non-smoking cigarettes of foreign origin from the car.
On the fact of the crime provided for in Part 1 of Art. 204 (Illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transportation for the purpose of sale of excisable goods) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, criminal proceedings have been opened.
The sanction of the article provides for a fine of five thousand to ten thousand non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens with the confiscation and destruction of illegally manufactured goods.
All withdrawn tobacco products are sent for examination to the Zaporizhzhya Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. At the prices of the “black” market, its cost is more than 1 172 800 UAH.
Another case happened in Rivne region. There, according to the received operational information, the patrolmen at a stationary post in the village of Oparipsy stopped the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter on the fifth of August at a foreign registration.
In the cabin of the bus, the police visually detected a separate compartment where there were bags with supposedly raw amber. The 35-year-old driver, a resident of Dubrovnik, refused to give permission to inspect the vehicle.
Investigative and operational group of VP No. 2 (Radyvyliv) of Dubno RVP was called to the scene of the incident: the car was seized and delivered to the territory of the police station.
According to the court decision, yesterday, August 8, law enforcement officers conducted an authorized search of the vehicle, during which they found nine bags of raw amber stones of various fractions with a total weight of 85 kilograms. In addition, the seized was arrested.
On the fact of illegal storage and transportation of amber, a pre-trial investigation under part 1 of Article 240-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine continues.
National Police of Ukraine
