Smuggling of cigarettes across the border with Moldova: the investigation regarding one of the suspects has been completed

 In Bukovina, a resident who tried to illegally move a batch of tobacco products worth over 4.4 million UAH to Moldova will stand trial. Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Chernivtsi region completed the pretrial investigation and sent the indictment to court. At the same time, the investigation regarding other participants in the illegal scheme continues.

It was established that through the "Mamalyha-Criva" checkpoint, the suspect tried to export 105 thousand packs of illegally manufactured cigarettes without excise tax stamps to the Republic of Moldova.

The tobacco products were hidden in a specially equipped storage facility inside a semi-trailer tank. In total, there were 280 cardboard boxes with unfiltered cigarettes in the hiding place.

During customs control, employees of the Chernivtsi Customs detected a discrepancy between the weight parameters of the vehicle and the data specified in the registration documents.

For an in-depth inspection, the vehicle was directed to the "Porubne-Siret" checkpoint, where a stationary scanning system detected the hidden cargo.

As a result of the inspection, 105,000 packs of cigarettes were seized from the tank trailer. According to the expert's conclusion, their value amounts to 4.41 million UAH. The cargo truck and the semi-trailer tank were also seized.

The actions of the suspect are qualified under Part 2 of Article 201-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – smuggling of excisable goods.

Operational support is carried out by employees of the 31st Border Guard Detachment of the State Border Guard Service. Procedural guidance is carried out by prosecutors of the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office.

As a reminder, earlier detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Chernivtsi region exposed a similar scheme and, during searches, seized over 800 thousand packs of cigarettes worth 60 million UAH, which the organizers planned to illegally move to EU countries.

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent of committing a crime until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court verdict that has entered into force.