Under the procedural supervision of the Lviv Region Prosecutor’s Office, the SBU exposed an illegal workshop for the production of counterfeit cigarettes. Excisable goods worth almost UAH 2.5 million were seized from illicit trafficking.
According to the investigation, a group of people organised the illegal production of cigarettes. In a clandestine workshop, they set up a production line for the manufacture of counterfeit products on an industrial scale. The counterfeits were labelled under the names of foreign and Ukrainian manufacturers.
The goods were sold in bulk to the consumer market in several regions of Ukraine.
During the searches of the clandestine workshop and warehouse, the SBU seized 8,000 packs of cigarettes without excise stamps, over 43,000 packs of finished counterfeit products and over 3,000 kg of tobacco. A truck, packaging materials and other material evidence were also seized. The total value of the seized property is about UAH 7 million.
The pre-trial investigation into the manufacture, storage, purchase, transportation, shipment, importation into Ukraine for use in the sale of goods, sale or sale of excise tax stamps or holographic security elements, as well as illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transportation for sale of excisable goods (Articles 199, 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) is ongoing.
The persons involved in the illegal activity are being identified.
The operation was carried out in cooperation with detectives of the SBU Department of Economic Crime in Lviv region and operatives of the Strategic Investigations Department in Lviv region of the State Secret Service of the National Police of Ukraine.
The Department of Information Policy
of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office
