Smuggling Scheme Exposed in Odesa: 33,500 Cigarette Packs Seized

An organizer of smuggling who tried to smuggle excisable goods to the European Union in ice cream packages was exposed in Odesa region.

This was reported by the Bureau of Economic Security.

According to the investigation, the organizer of the scheme used documents and data from an Odesa ice cream factory to illegally export cigarettes and alcohol to Europe. To deceive customs officers, the goods were hidden in sweets containers and covered with ice cream.

Law enforcement officers have already found out where the cargo came from, what route it was traveling, and who might be involved. During a search at the border at the Orlivka-Isakcha checkpoint, more than 33,500 packs of cigarettes and almost 13,000 liters of alcohol were found. A truck with a trailer and excisable goods with an estimated value of almost UAH 7 million were also seized.

Detectives are currently identifying all persons involved in the smuggling. Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Border Guard Service, customs and the regional prosecutor's office are also working on the case.

Intent has already written about how BES employees seized a line for the production of counterfeit cigarettes from an Odesa smuggler and handed it over to the National Agency for the Detection, Tracing and Management of Assets (ARMA). The company in question is Orion Tobacco, a company associated with Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin. It should be noted that Vadym Alperin is involved in the case of importing goods into Ukraine at a reduced customs value and with forged documents. As a result, the state lost almost UAH 64 million.

Earlier, the BES detectives exposed a resident of Odesa who was storing counterfeit cigarettes of well-known brands in a warehouse. The total value of the goods is almost UAH 6 million.

Another resident of Odesa organized underground production of cigarettes and then sold them on local markets. During the searches, the SBU seized goods worth over UAH 11 million.

The BES detectives also served suspicion notices to four people who set up illegal production of cigarettes on an industrial scale in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.

Ірина Глухова