Detectives of the territorial department of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) in the Vinnytsia region have stopped the activity of a group of individuals who organized the underground cultivation, processing, and sale of tobacco products, seizing property and raw materials worth over UAH 4.3 million.
According to data on the agency’s website published on Monday, the wrongdoers set up a workshop on a private estate, where they established a full production cycle and additionally purchased raw materials from other regions. The dealers sold the finished products on the local market.
During five searches at the sites of manufacturing, storage of counterfeit goods, and the residences of the figures involved, over 2.5 tonnes of tobacco raw materials with an estimated value of more than UAH 3 million, nearly 40,000 cigarette tubes, a machine for shredding leaf tobacco, and 63 cigarette-making devices were seized. In addition, cash in domestic and foreign currencies, mobile phones, and rough documentation were seized.
Investigative actions were carried out as part of a pre-trial investigation under Part 1 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal manufacture, storage, sale, or transportation for the purpose of sale of excisable goods).
Operational support is provided by the Department of Strategic Investigations in the Vinnytsia region under the procedural guidance of the Vinnytsia Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
