Under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a large-scale scheme of illegal production and sale of tobacco products was liquidated.
According to the investigation, a group of people organized an underground tobacco factory in one of the districts of Odesa region. The workshop was set up in the basement, over which a house was built for cover.
In order to mask the large amount of consumed electricity, a diesel substation was installed.
Industrial production capacity allowed to produce up to 30,000 packs per day.
Cigarettes were labeled under the guise of well-known foreign brands.
Counterfeit goods were sold throughout the territory of Ukraine and beyond.
The estimated monthly income of the group was up to UAH 12 million.
During the searches, a cigarette and packaging production line, equipment for cutting polygraphy and processing cigarette filters, Russian excise tax stamps, more than 270,000 packs of cigarettes, more than 360 bags of tobacco and other physical evidence were discovered and seized.
The estimated cost of the seized is more than UAH 40 million.
Investigations are ongoing. The issue of appointing a number of examinations and imposing an arrest on seized property is being resolved.
Installed by all involved persons.
The issue of transferring seized equipment for storage at the facilities of the Ukrainian Association of Tobacco Manufacturers Ukrtyutyun is also being resolved.
The pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings on the facts of illegal production and sale of tobacco products is ongoing (part 1 of article 199, part 1 of article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), carried out by investigators of the Investigative Department of the Main Department of the National Police of the region under the operational support of the Department of Strategic Investigations in Lviv of the DSR region of the National Police of Ukraine.
Department of Information Policy
Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office