Operation “Excise”: The National Police compiled about seven thousand administrative protocols on the distribution of non-excise goods
On November 1, by order of the Minister of Internal Affairs Denis Monastyrsky, the National Police of Ukraine began the operation “Excise”. Its main objective is to stop illegal trade without paying taxes in the markets of fuel, spirits and tobacco products.
The receipts from excise tax on excise goods produced in Ukraine (liquor-vodka products, fuel, tobacco and tobacco products) amounted to UAH 7.508 billion in November 2021, which is UAH 808 million more than in November 2020.
As of December 22, the National Police compiled 6915 administrative protocols and opened 178 criminal proceedings for the distribution of non-excise goods.
In December, law enforcement officers checked more than 140,000 business entities, conducted 530 searches and reported suspicions to 33 people.
So far, the National Police officers have seized:
— Alcoholic products — 361 864 liters;
— Ethyl alcohol — 156 294 liters;
— 1 746 069 packs of tobacco products and 500 kilograms of tobacco.
Bright examples of the operation “Excise” were large-scale trials throughout the country.
For example, in the Nikolaev area employees of the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police stopped the activities of 4 underground workshops that produced up to 30 tons of counterfeit alcoholic beverages every month. According to the results of the measures, the police detained two members of the criminal group in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Three defendants were informed of suspicions under Part 2 of Article 204 (illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transportation for the purpose of sale of excisable goods) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Large-scale clandestine production of tobacco products was stopped in Lviv region: police seized equipment and cigarettes worth UAH 33 million. The capacities of the underground workshops made it possible to produce up to 35,000 packs of cigarettes daily. Manufactured products were sold to the countries of the European Union under the guise of trademarks of European manufacturers.
Underground fuel production exposed in Kharkiv: UAH 192 million worth of products and equipment were seized. Exposure measures were carried out in several stages. According to the results, an organizer, supply channels and sales of low-quality fuel were established. It was sold through a network of gas stations and enterprises of the real sector of the economy, in particular the state one.
In Vinnytsia region, the operatives seized almost 10 thousand liters of ethyl alcohol from illegal circulation. In the process of operational-investigative measures, law enforcement officers found out that a batch of alcohol, which allegedly entered the country by smuggling, would be taken to the Vinnytsia region for further production of counterfeit vodka. Operational information was successfully implemented, the cost of counterfeit products reaches 500 thousand hryvnias.
