BES searches containers in a port in Odesa region

Detectives of the BES Territorial Department together with border guards uncovered a large-scale illegal business scheme. The criminals organized the export of cigarettes without excise stamps. The goods were confiscated.

According to the Bureau of Economic Security, they found more than 2 million packs of cigarettes without excise stamps in three containers located in the port of Velyka Odesa. The total value of the illegal tobacco is 165.6 million hryvnias.

Photo: Bureau of Economic Security

According to the investigation, a group of people purchased cigarettes illegally manufactured at a Ukrainian factory for a year and distributed them both in Ukraine and abroad.

During searches of the containers, detectives seized 4,140 boxes of tobacco products. The smuggled goods were planned to be exported to Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The documents stated that the cigarettes were intended for Duty Free stores, although their origin was falsified - the packs were labeled as produced in Egypt, Portugal or Switzerland.

Recently, the Bureau of Economic Security searched the offices of the medical center of the Odesa City Council and the premises belonging to the deputy.

Earlier, the Center for Public Investigations reported that detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) were conducting searches at the Odesa Customs.

In January 2023, officers of the Bureau of Economic Security, together with the SBU, conducted 30 searches at the administrative premises of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, Odesa Customs, and customs posts "Chornomorsk-Port", "Pivdennyi Port", "Odesa Port" of the State Customs Service and at the residences of State Customs Service officials. The searches were conducted as part of an investigation into a large-scale scheme of tax evasion on a particularly large scale in the export of grain.

Ірина Глухова