720,000 packs of popular brand cigarettes daily in the underground: ESBU exposes massive factory with billions in shadow profits

 Detectives of the Main Detective Unit of the ESBU, together with the Territorial Office of the ESBU in Kyiv, have exposed and shut down an organized group running large-scale illegal cigarette production. The factory operated in the Chernivtsi region. Production capacity was powered by two lines, each producing approximately 5,000 cigarettes per minute. As a result, daily output reached up to 720,000 packs of cigarettes, with monthly illegal revenue exceeding 1 billion hryvnias.

In terms of scale, this is the largest underground cigarette manufacturing operation uncovered by the ESBU since its inception.

The investigation revealed that the group responsible for this massive underground operation consisted of approximately 40 people. They manufactured filter cigarettes disguised as well-known international brands.

The illegal factory was set up in a warehouse in Chernivtsi, where industrial equipment was installed to ensure a full technological production cycle.

To ensure continuous operation, the perpetrators equipped the premises with everything necessary, including industrial generators. They also organized living quarters for the workers, allowing the factory to function 24/7.

During the searches, detectives seized two full-cycle production and packaging lines for filter cigarettes, 750,000 packs of various international cigarette brands, 149 crates of fermented tobacco, packaging materials, rolls of cigarette paper, filter rods, and printing products of well-known international tobacco brands.

The estimated value of the seized equipment, products, and property exceeds UAH 200 million.

The criminal proceedings are being investigated under Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—the illegal manufacture, storage, sale, or transportation with the intent to sell excisable goods.

The ESBU systematically counters the illegal production and circulation of excisable products and will continue to consistently expose schemes that cause millions in losses to the budget and undermine the economic security of the state.

Procedural oversight is provided by the Office of the Prosecutor General.