The ESBU charges 7 individuals for organizing a massive shadow tobacco network across Ukraine

 A group of individuals who organized a large-scale shadow network for the production and sale of illegally manufactured tobacco without appropriate licenses and tax payments have been notified of suspicion. The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by detectives from the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Odesa region.

It was established that the 29-year-old native of the Mykolaiv region organized the criminal scheme with a full cycle of illegal activities—from the purchase and production of tobacco raw materials to its sale to end consumers. The man had previously been held criminally responsible for a similar crime.

To implement the illegal plan, the suspect involved several people with assigned roles: administration of internet resources, receipt and processing of orders, product packaging, logistics, and retail sales at markets in the city of Odesa.

The suspects sold the products through websites using postal delivery services, as well as through retail outlets at local markets. For the conspiracy, the participants used separate communication devices and closed communication channels.

The suspects systematically purchased and manufactured significant volumes of tobacco products. To do this, they set up a tobacco plantation on an 11-hectare area of a private property in the Ternopil region. Later, they dried the tobacco in greenhouses and shredded it.

One of the individuals involved sent the finished products by mail to Odesa, where the tobacco was processed and packaged at an underground warehouse for further sale. The finished goods without excise tax stamps were sold through a network of retail outlets and an internet channel throughout Ukraine.

To transport and store the products, the organizers involved both scheme participants and third parties who were unaware of the criminal activity. Tobacco products were stored in warehouses and retail pavilions within the city of Odesa.

During searches in the Odesa and Ternopil regions, detectives shut down an underground tobacco production workshop and liquidated the internet sales channel and the network of illegal retail outlets. More than 9.1 tons of tobacco, cigarettes without excise tax stamps, equipment for the manufacture and packaging of tobacco products, cigarette tubes, paper, filters, flavorings, machines and devices for filling cigarettes and making hand-rolled cigarettes, cash, vehicles, bank cards, and ledger records were seized from illegal circulation.

The total value of the seized assets exceeds 13 million UAH.

Seven suspects have been notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 28, and Parts 1 and 2 of Art. 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Currently, motions have been filed with the court to select preventive measures in the form of detention and bail in amounts up to 30 million UAH.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The full circle of individuals involved in the illegal activity is being established.

Procedural guidance is provided by the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, with operational support from the Strategic Investigations Department in the Odesa region of the National Police of Ukraine and officers of the 26th Border Guard Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

According to Art. 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent of committing a criminal offense until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court's verdict of guilty.