Officers of the Border Guard post in Jelenia Góra had been conducting proceedings for several months against an international criminal group involved in the production and distribution of illegal cigarettes within the European Union. – The group consisted mainly of citizens of Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania. The Border Guard’s findings indicated that a factory producing illegal cigarettes was located in the Czech Republic. The Border Guard officers passed this information to the Czech side – says mjr SG Joanna Konieczniak, press spokesperson for the Nadodrzański Border Guard Branch.
She adds:
At the same time, police officers from the Criminal Department of the Gorzów Wlkp. Board of the Central Police Investigation Bureau, while investigating the methods used by an international organized criminal group robbing trucks, obtained information indicating that a subgroup had emerged whose members might be involved in the illegal production and trading of cigarettes. As a result of their activities, it was established that tobacco products without excise stamps were being transported from the Czech Republic to Poland. This information was confirmed during searches in Gorzów Wlkp., when samples of various cigarettes without Polish excise stamps were secured from the suspects. This lead also pointed to the Czech Republic, so the police officers passed their findings to the Czech services.
The result? International cooperation between Polish and Czech services – with Europol support – aimed at dismantling an organized criminal group producing, smuggling and distributing illegal cigarettes.
(In the Czech Republic, the country’s Customs Service investigated the illegal production of cigarettes. Polish officers provided information about locations, vehicles and people who might have been directly connected with the illegal production of cigarettes in the neighboring southern country).
M(r) SG J. Konieczniak: – In Poland, Border Guard officers, thanks to cooperation with the Czech services, seized a shipment of cigarettes. More than 6.5 million cigarettes were being smuggled in the vehicle. Two people were also arrested at that time: a Polish citizen and a Slovak citizen.
At that time, police officers from the Gorzów Wlkp. Board arrested four people suspected of smuggling cigarettes. The suspects were charged with smuggling 1.5 million cigarettes without excise stamps, causing the State Treasury to lose PLN 1.3 million in revenue. The investigation’s findings indicate that the illegal goods were to be distributed to many voivodeships in Poland and even to other European Union countries. The investigation into the circumstances of the crimes committed in Poland is supervised by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Gorzów Wlkp.
In March 2020, the Czech side issued an invitation to conduct a joint operation aimed at shutting down an illegal cigarette factory in the Czech Republic. The closure of the borders following the declaration of an epidemic emergency in Poland prevented officers of the Nadodrzański Border Guard Branch and the CBŚP from participating in the planned activities.
Spokesperson for the Nadodrzański Border Guard Branch:
At the end of April, officers of the Czech Customs Service arrested 15 people: 11 citizens of Ukraine, two of Hungary, and citizens of Romania and Russia. During the operation, they shut down a factory where illegal cigarettes were produced. Two complete production lines intended for cigarette production and a production line used for cutting and processing tobacco were secured. More than 85 tonnes of tobacco and over 32.5 million cigarettes of various brands were seized. More than 200,000 Polish cigarette labels, as well as filters, cigarette paper, foil and finished packages, were secured at the factory.
Dismantling the organized criminal group, arresting all suspects, seizing the illegal goods and the equipment used to produce them – this was the result of many months of work by the services. The operation was made possible by international cooperation and the exchange of information. Such cases are undoubtedly highly complex and time-consuming and require enormous commitment from the services.