The ESBU in Volyn exposes underground hookah tobacco workshop: products worth UAH 8 million seized

 Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Volyn region have uncovered and shut down an underground workshop producing hookah tobacco on an industrial scale.

During the pretrial investigation, it was established that residents of the Volyn and Lviv regions were involved in the illegal activity. The suspects set up the clandestine workshop in warehouse facilities. The production site was outfitted with equipment for the full manufacturing cycle of hookah tobacco. They employed workers who were not officially registered.

To promote their products, the suspects recruited bloggers and used marketing tools to establish distribution and circulate the illegally manufactured goods in large volumes.

During the searches, detectives discovered significant quantities of finished products and raw materials. More than 22,000 packages of hookah tobacco with a total weight of 2.2 tons, approximately 3 tons of raw materials, various additives, packaging materials, and equipment were seized.

The estimated value of the seized products exceeds 8 million UAH. An arrest has been placed on the seized property.

A pretrial investigation is currently ongoing under Part 2 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — illegal manufacture and storage of excise goods. Detectives are determining the full circle of individuals involved in organizing and operating the underground production.

Operational support in the criminal proceedings is provided by officers from the Volyn Department of the Internal Security Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine and the 6th Border Guard Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. Procedural guidance is carried out by the Volyn Regional Prosecutor's Office.

 As a reminder, ESBU detectives recently served notices of suspicion to 11 participants in a scheme involving the industrial-scale illegal manufacture of tobacco products in Kremenchuk. Read more.