Large-scale underground cigarette factory in Cherkasy region: ESBU seizes equipment and products worth 30 million UAH

 Detectives of the ESBU Main Detective Unit have exposed a group of individuals who organized large-scale illegal production of tobacco products. Assets worth approximately UAH 30 million were seized.

The investigation revealed that seven members of the group, including residents of the Cherkasy, Odesa, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, established an underground production facility for cigarettes under well-known Ukrainian and European brand names.

The illegal factory was set up in a warehouse on the outskirts of Uman, where industrial equipment was installed to create a full-cycle tobacco production line. The facility’s capacity reached approximately 50,000 packs of cigarettes per day. To ensure uninterrupted operations, the perpetrators equipped the premises with backup power sources.

During the searches, law enforcement seized a full-cycle cigarette production line, 295,745 packs of cigarettes of various brands, 95 bags of fermented tobacco, 268 boxes of packaging materials, 138 rolls of cigarette paper, over USD 36,000 in cash, a truck, mobile phones, and ledger records.

The estimated value of the seized equipment, products, and assets is approximately UAH 30 million.

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

Operational support was provided by officers of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine. Procedural oversight is being conducted by prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General.