A citizen of Moldova tried to export cigarettes under the guise of snacks secretly

 Under the guise of potato chips, they tried to export more than 11,000 packs of cigarettes. Detectives of the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in the Chernivtsi region are conducting a pretrial investigation into the fact of illegal movement of tobacco products across the customs border of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the driver of a cargo vehicle with a semi-trailer refrigerator, according to the shipping documents, was transporting a batch of potato chips. At the same time, a special hiding place was set up in the lower part of the semi-trailer, in which illegally manufactured tobacco products without excise tax stamps of Ukraine were hidden.

During customs control, employees of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine noticed signs of interference in the construction of the semi-trailer. A subsequent inspection allowed for the discovery of a specially equipped hiding place.

After dismantling the plates that masked the specially equipped openings, tobacco products were discovered in the hiding place.

As a result of the inspection, 11,350 packs of illegally manufactured unfiltered cigarettes were seized, as well as the cargo vehicle with a semi-trailer refrigerator that was used for their illegal transportation.

The pretrial investigation is carried out under Part 1 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Operational support is carried out by employees of the 31st Border Guard Detachment of the State Border Guard Service.

Procedural guidance is provided by the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office.

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court verdict.