Smuggling of timber: The ESBU announced suspicion of a deputy and his accomplices

 Detectives from the Territorial Office of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine in the Odesa region announced suspicion of a deputy and his accomplices. The suspects attempted to illegally export timber to the European Union using forged documents.

During the investigation, detectives established that the deputy of the Dobrianka village community, along with two accomplices, had been smuggling lumber abroad for a year.

The suspects were forging certificates of origin for the timber and obtaining relevant certificates. They submitted documents with false information for customs clearance, and to evade control, they changed the border crossing points. To avoid attracting the attention of regulatory bodies, the lumber was transported through various checkpoints.

In this manner, they exported almost 115 cubic meters of timber outside of Ukraine.

The suspects were uncovered during the export of another batch of smuggled timber through the Starokozache checkpoint in the Odesa region.

All three suspects have been served with a notice of suspicion for committing a criminal offense under Part 2 of the Art. 201-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (movement across the customs border of Ukraine outside of customs control or with concealment from customs control of lumber or sawn timber of valuable and rare tree species, unprocessed timber, as well as other timber prohibited for export outside the customs territory of Ukraine).

Operational support was provided by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) Directorate in the Chernihiv region. Procedural guidance was provided by the prosecutors of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office.