The ESBU in Bukovyna notified 11 participants of a scheme who organized a shadow tobacco factory in Kremenchuk of suspicion

 Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Chernivtsi region have notified 11 participants of a large-scale scheme involving the illegal production and sale of excise goods, suspecting them of involvement. The suspects include a co-founder, company employees, and their accomplices, who established an underground manufacturing operation for tobacco products in the Poltava region.

The illegal production was uncovered by tracing the raw material supply chain from Bukovyna to an industrial base in the city of Kremenchuk, where counterfeit cigarettes were manufactured. A full-cycle industrial production process was organized at the factory.

Detectives discovered two high-capacity production lines that allowed for the manufacture of goods in vast volumes. The underground workshop produced dozens of different cigarette brands. The finished products were sold through an established network across the entire territory of Ukraine.

During the searches at the criminal group's operating locations, detectives seized two industrial lines for cigarette manufacturing and packaging, approximately 38 tons of raw tobacco materials (leaves and shredded tobacco), over 240,000 packs of counterfeit cigarettes, about 190,000 forged excise duty stamps, a significant amount of printing blanks for packs, and over 6,000 liters of illicitly produced alcohol. The estimated value of the seized goods is approximately UAH 50 million.

To date, 11 suspects have been notified of suspicion of committing criminal offenses under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal manufacture, storage, sale, or transportation for sale of excise goods). The issue of applying precautionary measures in the form of bail is currently being decided. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Operational support was provided by officers of the Department of Operational and Investigative Activities of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. Procedural guidance is carried out by the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office.