Detectives of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine exposed officials of a company that set up an international channel for the supply of e-cigarettes from the Far East.

Employees of the ESBU identified a group of persons who illegally moved smoking devices to the territory of Ukraine without the appropriate customs clearance. In this way, particularly large taxes and duties were not paid on the products.

Subsequently, electronic cigarettes with excise tax stamps that have clear signs of counterfeiting were illegally stored in warehouses and sold on the territory of Ukraine for cash.

In order to stop the illegal activity, detectives of the ESBU together with the SSU conducted 15 searches in warehouses and offices in Lviv region and Kyiv.

Almost 300 thousand units of excisable products (e-cigarettes) about 10 thousand excise tax stamps with signs of counterfeiting, equipment for changing the date of production and packaging, office equipment with information about the products, draft records, etc. were found and seized. About half a million hryvnias in cash received from the sale of these products were also seized. The value of the seized products is about UAH 90 million.

Interrogations and other necessary investigative actions are currently underway.

The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings on the grounds of criminal offenses stipulated by Part 3 Article 199 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (storage with the intent to use in the sale of goods with counterfeit excise tax stamps) and Part 3 Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal manufacture, storage, sale or transportation for the purpose of selling excisable goods) is being conducted by detectives of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, under the operational support of the Security Service of Ukraine and the procedural guidance of prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's office.

Recently, detectives of the Territorial Department ESBU in Kyiv and Kyiv region exposed a large-scale illegal scheme for the production and sale of hookah tobacco in Dnipropetrovs'k region. Products and equipment worth UAH 17.4 million were seized from illicit trafficking.