Under the procedural leadership of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, an illegal tobacco factory operating in the Volyn region was exposed. According to preliminary estimates, its production capacity allowed the production of up to 20,000 packs of cigarettes. The products were stored and sold in the Lviv and Volyn regions.
According to the investigation, the enterprise operated in one of the remote villages. A professional raw material preparation line was installed at the factory, and high-tech, expensive equipment was used. Work on the production of tobacco products was carried out by the shift method.
The surrounding area was surrounded by a high fence. In addition, a modern alarm and video surveillance system was installed there. Increased security patrolled the perimeter – all this ensured complete secrecy of the facility.
Prosecutors and investigators, who had been monitoring the object for a long time, worked out a plan for a special operation to break into its territory. The law enforcement officers worked professionally – the factory security did not have time to make any resistance.
During the searches, a line for the production of tobacco products, a line for their packaging, more than 59,000 packs of finished products, more than 5.5 tons of tobacco, paper, filters and accessories were seized. The total value of the seized is about UAH 20 million.
Currently, the issue of appointing appropriate examinations and imposing a seizure on property is being resolved.
The pre-trial investigation into the fact of the manufacture and sale of tobacco products with forged excise tax stamps is ongoing (Part 1 of Article 199 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Investigations were carried out by the prosecutor’s office together with the investigators of the State Department of the State of Ukraine in the Lviv region under the operational support of the Ukrainian SSR in the Lviv region of the SSR of the NP of Ukraine.
Department of Information Policy
Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office