Detectives of the Territorial Department of the Economic Security Bureau in Chernivtsi region stopped the illegal activity of a workshop in Mohyliv-Podilskyi Vinnytsia region. Lines for the production and packaging of cigarettes were seized.

During the pre-trial investigation the ESBU identified two persons who set up cigarette production and packaging lines on the territory of a defunct industrial enterprise. The defendants used to work at a tobacco factory, one of them is a technologist by profession. At the same factory they purchased decommissioned equipment, hired three people and organized large-scale production of counterfeit tobacco products under the trademarks of well-known brands in Ukraine. They planned to export the finished products abroad for further sale.

Employees of the ESBU conducted searches and seized equipment for manufacturing and packaging of filterless cigarettes, a machine for affixing excise tax stamps, raw materials for manufacturing tobacco products, unregistered weapons and a russian passport. The total value of the seized property is over UAH 2.6 million.

The investigative actions are ongoing the full range of persons involved in the illegal activity is being established as well as other facts of illegal activity.

The pre-trial investigation of the criminal proceedings is carried out by detectives of the Territorial Department ESBU in Chernivtsi region with the assistance of 31 border guard detachments, operational support of the employees the SSU in Chernivtsi region and the procedural guidance of the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Recently, detectives of the Territorial Department of the Economic Security Bureau in Kyiv region exposed a large-scale scheme of selling illegally manufactured excisable goods in Bila Tserkva and Obukhiv districts of Kyiv region. Read more https://esbu.gov.ua/en/news/esbu-seizes-counterfeit-cigarettes-and-alcohol-worth-uah-4-million-in-kyiv-region