The State Security Service in Cherkasy region has uncovered an illegal cigarette factory
In the Cherkasy region, law enforcement officers have uncovered an illegal tobacco factory operating on the outskirts of Uman. According to the National Police, seven individuals from the Cherkasy, Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions are implicated in the illegal activity.
A full-scale production cycle for cigarettes of well-known Ukrainian and European brands had been set up in a warehouse. Industrial production lines were installed and the factory was equipped with backup power supplies.
According to law enforcement officials, the finished products were sold throughout Ukraine via retail chains.
Operatives from the National Police’s Department of Strategic Investigations, together with detectives from the Economic Security Bureau, carried out searches at the sites of the illegal activity and in the vehicles used to transport the products.
During the searches, property worth over 30 million hryvnias was seized. Among the seized equipment was a complete cigarette production line, 295,745 packets of cigarettes of various brands, 95 sacks of fermented tobacco, 268 boxes of packaging material and 138 rolls of cigarette paper.
Over 36,000 dollars, a lorry, mobile phones and rough notes were also seized.
The criminal proceedings are being investigated under Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for liability for the illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transport for the purpose of selling excise goods.
The Office of the Prosecutor General is overseeing the proceedings in the case.
As previously reported by The Public.info, the illegal tobacco market in Ukraine has grown from 12.6% to over 18%. According to MP Danylo Getmantsev, this is linked to the low effectiveness of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine.
