Over 130,000 packs of cigarettes per day: ESBU shut down underground tobacco factories in the Lviv and Kharkiv regions

 Detectives of the Main Detective Unit of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, together with operational officers of the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine under the procedural guidance of the Office of the General Prosecutor, shut down two underground cigarette production facilities in the Lviv and Kharkiv regions. The factories operated on an industrial scale and together could manufacture over 130,000 packs of cigarettes per day. The total value of the seized products, equipment, raw materials, and other items exceeds 60 million UAH.

The Director of the ESBU, Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi, announced this on his Telegram channel.

In the Lviv region, a group of individuals set up an illegal factory in one of the warehouse premises. There, they installed an industrial manufacturing line and organized a full production cycle for filter cigarettes under the guise of products from famous international brands. The production capacity was about 70 thousand packs of cigarettes per day.

To ensure the factory operated continuously, it was equipped with an industrial generator. Living quarters for the workers were set up directly on the production site.

During the searches, detectives seized a manufacturing line, 54 cases of finished cigarettes, 36 cases of raw tobacco materials, filter rods, cigarette paper, packaging film, foil, printed packaging materials from famous international brands, and other equipment. The total value of the seized property exceeds 50 million UAH.

Another underground factory was exposed in the Kharkiv region. There, cigarettes without filters were manufactured on an industrial scale. The production capacity was about 60 thousand packs per day.

The production facility also operated autonomously thanks to an industrial generator. The suspects hid the activity of the workshop as much as possible and set up a full cycle of cigarette manufacturing.

During the investigative actions, manufacturing equipment, 117 cases of finished products, tobacco raw materials, cigarette paper, printed packaging materials, and other items were seized. The total value of the seized goods is over 10 million UAH.

«The shadow business must not have “safe” regions. And it will not have “quiet” places where one can operate with impunity,» noted Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi.

The pretrial investigation is ongoing under article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal manufacture, storage, sale, or transportation for the purpose of sale of excisable goods).

Operational support was carried out by employees of the Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine under the procedural guidance of the Office of the General Prosecutor.