More than a million packs of contraband cigarettes found in the Baltic customs
Illegal transportation to Europe more than 1 million 130 thousand packs of Belarusian cigarettes prevented the Baltic customs in April 2020. The contraband was trying to smuggle in pine and oak lumber, metal panels for soundproofing, as well as rolls of fiberglass.
15-16 April Turukhtanny customs post of the Baltic customs detained the container with pine boards, bound for the Netherlands. After inspection with use of inspection complexes (IDC), the container was opened. Inside customs officers found about 1.5 thousand of boards with embedded in them 86 thousand packs of cigarettes.
April 18-19 at the customs post Harbour was carried out customs examination with the use of IIR container with oak boards, going to the UK. According to the results of inspection the container was opened, and the pallet boards, the customs officers found about 108 thousand packs of Belarusian cigarettes brand of Minsk. In further operational activities discovered, and the warehouse where they had been packing illegal goods.
22-23 April 2020 at the customs post timber port in the container, planned to be shipped to Belgium, the results of the inspection with the use of IIR 480 steel road noise absorbing acoustic panels were found about 11 tons of the Belarusian capital Minsk cigarettes brands and NZ – more than 761 thousand packs.
24-28 April customs officers at the checkpoint Turukhtanny inspected on IIR and opened the container with rolls of fiberglass insulation, EN route to Slovenia. It was discovered 175 thousand packs of cigarettes of the brand of Minsk.
To investigate cases of smuggling of tobacco products, the customs officers opened a number of criminal cases. There are investigative actions.
Ruslan Davydov, Deputy head of the FCS of Russia: “the Discovery in April 2020 in the region of the Baltic customs of more than 1 million packets of cigarettes with Belarusian excise stamps is the result of a systematic system of customs bodies on revealing of contraband schemes. Illicit trafficking of tobacco, the customs authorities act in accordance with the developed plan of measures to combat illicit trade in tobacco products“.