Excise gang busted – informs the Central Police Investigation Bureau. The officers detained eight people and seized grinding equipment, tobacco and almost 10 million pieces of excise-free cigarettes. Investigators have already charged eight members of an organized criminal group.
Officers of the CBŚP, KAS and KMP in Skierniewice, under the supervision of the Lublin branch of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin, dismantled the excise tax gang, detaining 8 suspects and seizing equipment for grinding, cutting and crushing tobacco as well as nearly 10 million cigarettes without Polish excise stamps. Investigators accuse members of an organized criminal group of smuggling a total of approximately 39 million cigarettes worth almost PLN 29 million. The State Treasury’s losses due to unpaid taxes were estimated at over PLN 45 million.
Officers from the Lublin Management Board of the Central Police Investigation Bureau, the Municipal Police Headquarters in Skierniewice and the Lublin Customs and Tax Office in Biała Podlaska determined that an organized criminal group operates in the Masovian and Łódź provinces, but also outside Poland. It was supposed to deal with the production, trade and smuggling of tobacco products without Polish excise stamps. The police started taking action.
Stopping on a expressway
“On the S8 expressway near Kierzno and Niwisko, officers stopped two trucks for inspection, which, according to the documentation, were supposed to transport glass panes to France. Instead of the declared goods, 9.9 million cigarettes (495,000 packs) were transported on the truck’s trailers ), worth over PLN 7.5 million,” informs the CBŚP in a press release.
Another action was organized on a private property in the Żyrardów district. “The officers seized nearly 31,000 pieces of cigarettes of various brands, tobacco, devices for grinding, cutting and shredding tobacco, as well as nearly 87,000 pieces of tablets with the name of a very strong painkiller,” says the Central Bureau of Investigation. On another property in Żyrardów, 4.2 thousand illegal cigarettes, tobacco and machines for grinding, cutting and shredding it were found.
Eight detained, assets secured
The police detained the first four people. “During subsequent operations, four more suspects were detained. Eight men in the Lublin Branch of the Department of Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin were charged with participation in an organized criminal group and intra-Community transport of tobacco products,” the Central Bureau of Investigation informs.
One of these people was charged with leading an organized criminal group. The prosecutor decided his assets amounted to over PLN 1.3 million.
Losses were estimated at 45 million
Investigators accuse members of the dismantled criminal group of smuggling a total of approximately 39 million cigarettes worth almost PLN 29 million. The State Treasury’s losses due to unpaid taxes were estimated at over PLN 45 million.
Main photo source: CBŚP/KAS