The work of underground shop on manufacturing of counterfeit cigarettes was stopped on 18 June 2020 in the Republic of Adygea employees of southern operative customs with the participation of SWAT Crimean customs. According to operational information, since the beginning of the workshop in November 2019, the amount produced in this production can exceed 24 million packs of cigarettes estimated cost of more than 2 billion.
Shop full cycle, which in two shifts working ten persons, malefactors zakonspirirovana under storage boxes. The area was guarded and it was fenced with barbed wire, a pass was carried out through the checkpoint.
During the search customs officers found the former in long-term usage of foreign equipment for the production of filter cigarettes and their subsequent packing in hard packs. The cost of such equipment in the secondary market starts from 55 million rubles, and the estimated productivity – more than 3 million packs of cigarettes per month.
On the line at the time of its discovery were made cigarettes of foreign brands W, NB, Rodopi, Opal, etc., as well as domestic brands “Stewardess”, “Capital”, “Comet”, “Space” etc. In the course of further operational-investigative actions it was established that previously it was also produced counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes and Winston.
Only during the search customs officers found 155 thousand ready-made packs of cigarettes, about 1.4 thousand boxes are not put in packs of cigarettes (about 4 million cigarettes); 3.6 tons of raw tobacco products of foreign production, 27 pallet of printing products with the image of packs of cigarettes total weight of over 16 tons 88 packages with fake excise stamps (only about 40 thousand excise stamps), and other materials for the production of cigarettes. The total value of seized products exceeded 50 million RUB.
Also at the time of the suppression of illegal activity was discovered on a cargo vehicle, partially loaded with goods, about 60 thousand packs of cigarettes. According to the information received, counterfeit cigarettes were sent to Krasnodar for their transfer to the shipping company and further sent to different regions of the country.
The illegal production and sales is organized inter-regional group operating in the South of Russia. At present are carried out quickly-investigation actions for establishment of the organizers and schemes of moving equipment and raw tobacco, to clarify the other circumstances of the case.