38 People Will Be Tried For Smuggling Belarusian Cigarettes In Poland
3- 4.07.2024, 9:44
- 4,770
Luxury cars and real estate were bought with money from the "business".
A case on the smuggling of Belarusian cigarettes to Poland has been sent to the District Court of the Polish city of Lublin. 38 people from four organized criminal groups are accused. For two years, they managed to illegally import products into the country by almost 12 million zlotys (about $3 million). The budget lost almost 40 million zlotys (about $10 million). The Polish Border Guard Service reported the case. MOST drew attention to the message.
Smuggling took place by rail through the terminal in Terespol. Usually, cigarettes were hidden in containers or gondola cars carrying timber and chips. The citizens of Belarus who carried out the loading gave the accomplices in Poland the numbers of the wagons where the cargo was hidden. They agreed on the unloading of wagons in transhipment terminals and exported cigarettes by road, and then delivered them to buyers in Poland.
Money was transferred to Belarusian accomplices in cash through truckers and drivers.
According to the investigation, from July 3, 2019 to October 14, 2021, members of criminal groups imported almost 1.7 million packs of cigarettes worth 11.7 million zlotys into Poland. The money earned from smuggling was later invested in the purchase of luxury cars and real estate. The defendants' property was seized for more than 10.7 million zlotys ($2.7 million).
During the searches, the suspects, in addition to illegally imported cigarettes, found 154 liters of alcohol without Polish excise stamps, more than seven kilograms of narcotic substances worth almost 400 thousand zlotys (100 thousand dollars), as well as a gas gun and two cars with changed Vin numbers.
It is reported that most of the accused pleaded guilty. 24 people agreed to serve their sentences voluntarily. A preventive measure in the form of pre-trial detention was applied to 10 defendants in the case.
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