Disguised as volunteers, the ESBU shuts down an illegal hookah tobacco distribution channel in the Odesa region

 An Odesa resident who organized the sale of illegally produced tobacco for hookahs and vapes will stand trial. Detectives of the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in the Odesa region have completed the pre-trial investigation.

The investigation established that the woman, without being registered as a sole proprietor and lacking the appropriate licenses to conduct business, organized the illegal acquisition, storage, and sale of tobacco products for hookahs, e-cigarettes, and liquids for them without excise tax stamps.

The suspect purchased the products from a group of individuals (whose cases have already been submitted to court) who had set up an illegal, large-scale hookah tobacco production workshop in the center of Odesa. For their illicit operations, they used an abandoned building where they installed specialized equipment for manufacturing and packaging tobacco products.

To conceal their unlawful activity, the perpetrators disguised themselves as volunteers and used a specially equipped vehicle to transport the illegally produced items to retail points across the city and region. One of these distribution points was a shop on the first floor of a high-rise building in the village of Lymanka, Odesa district.

The suspect sold e-cigarettes, liquids for them, and hookah tobacco for cash, knowing that the goods were manufactured illegally and under unsanitary conditions.

During the investigative actions, detectives seized a significant amount of illegally produced excise goods, including hookah tobacco of various brands, electronic smoking devices, and liquids for e-cigarettes. In total, hundreds of product units without excise tax stamps were seized.

The shop's illegal activity has been shut down, and the suspect has been notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal manufacturing, storage, sale, or transportation for the purpose of sale of excise goods). The indictment has been forwarded to the court.

The woman faces a fine ranging from five thousand to ten thousand, based on the tax-free minimum income of citizens, along with the confiscation and destruction of the illegally produced goods.

The prosecution was overseen by prosecutors of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office.

It is noted that, according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed 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's guilty verdict.