At least 103 million cigarettes could have been produced in an illegal factory, liquidated by the Central Bureau of Investigation of Police and the National Revenue Administration. Officers secured a tobacco production and packaging line, nearly 8 million cigarettes and 27 tons of tobacco. 14 people were detained. They exposed the State Treasury to a loss of 135 million złoty.
KAS officers and police officers Central Bureau of Investigation They entered two properties in Malbork County where illegal cigarettes were produced and tobacco without Polish excise stamps was stored.
– On the first property, officers found a complete technological line for cigarette production, including a tobacco cutter, drum dryers, dust extractors, machines for stuffing cigarette tubes and for wrapping and laminating packages – she said. National Revenue Administrationadding that the value of the machines is PLN 3 million.
Officers discovered a complete production lineKAS
On the factory premises, officers seized almost 8 million illegal cigarettes and components for their production, 7 tons of tobacco without Polish excise stamps and over 4 tons of tobacco dust.
Cigarettes and tobacco used for their production were seizedKAS
14 citizens were caught red-handed while manufacturing cigarettes UkraineThe factory buildings contained rooms for them, with bedrooms and kitchen facilities.
– On the premises of the second property there was a warehouse from which tobacco was delivered to a cigarette factory. There, officers secured over 20 tons of illegal tobacco stored on two semi-trailers – informed KAS.
As many as nine trucks were needed to transport the secured goods and machines to the KAS warehouses.
According to investigators, the liquidated factory could have produced at least 103 million cigarettes in a few months. The losses of the State Treasury due to unpaid excise duty and VAT were estimated at over PLN 135 million.
The detainees were taken to jail
The men detained during the operation were charged with participation in an organized criminal group and illegal cigarette production at the Pomeranian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Gdańsk.
At the request of the prosecutor, all suspects were temporarily arrested for 3 months.
Main image source: KAS