Underground tobacco factory uncovered in Poland. Ten Belarusians detained
Polish border guards and customs officers have uncovered an international criminal group involved in the illegal production of tobacco products. It operated in the Pomeranian and Masovian voivodeships. Out of 12 detained, ten are citizens of Belarus, Most reports , citing the Border Guard.
In the Pomeranian Voivodeship, border guards discovered a production line for processing and drying tobacco, as well as for manufacturing and packaging cigarettes. On site, almost 4.1 million counterfeit cigarettes of various brands, over 4.7 tons of cut tobacco, and almost 12.1 tons of dried raw tobacco were confiscated.
The value of the confiscated goods is estimated at over 9 million zlotys (about 2 million dollars). If the goods had entered the market, the budget would have lost at least 25.2 million zlotys (5 million dollars) in unpaid excise taxes.
A search also took place at a warehouse in the Masovian Voivodeship. Filters and wrappers for cigarettes were confiscated there.
During the investigation, operatives detained 12 members of the organized criminal group, including ten citizens of Belarus, one citizen of Latvia, and one Pole. All of them have been taken into custody for three months.
The case is being handled by the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk.