Tonight, operatives of the Lviv detachment, together with military personnel of the “Smilnytsia” department, stopped an attempt to move tobacco products across the state border using aircraft. Additional border units were sent from the “Smilnytsia” department to counter illegal activities.
In the course of search activities on the outskirts of Ternava, at a distance of 10 km from the state border, the border guards jumped on a hot group of men who were trying to launch four self-made drones into the air.
Noticing the outfit, the men left their “birds” and managed to escape. With the help of designed aircraft, the perpetrators intended to transport 3,600 packs of cigarettes without Ukrainian excise tax stamps to Poland.
At the scene of the incident, border guards also found an SUV with a trailer, equipment used to launch drones, draft notes, bank cards, 4,000 Polish zlotys and more than 2,000 hryvnias.
Based on this fact, the border guards informed the National Police, to whom they handed over everything discovered. Measures to identify persons involved in illegal activities are ongoing.
It should be noted that the drones flew over the territory of Poland for more than 10 km. Ukrainian border guards immediately transferred the data to their Polish colleagues, who also found packs of cigarettes on their territory. Later, they reported that they also detained a man who arrived shortly after to pick up the goods.