Officers from the Nadodrze Border Guard Unit—working together with officers of the National Revenue Administration and the Central Police Investigation Bureau, as well as the Customs Investigation Offices in Dresden and Görlitz, under the supervision of the National Prosecutor’s Office—seized more than 18 tons of dried tobacco worth nearly PLN 9.5 million. Thirteen people were arrested in connection with the case.
“Border Guard officers from the station in Tuplice, together with the National Revenue Administration from Zielona Góra, uncovered an organized criminal group involved in distributing illegal excise goods,” says Border Guard Major Joanna Konieczniak, spokesperson for the Nadodrze Border Guard Unit. “The group’s members felt untouchable. They operated in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. The criminal group developed a scheme that initially worked flawlessly thanks to dividing it among those countries: bank accounts in the Czech Republic, tobacco and warehouses in Germany, and finally the Polish part of the plan—the market for illegal tobacco without excise duty.
In June and July, officers from both services carried out operations in Lubusz Voivodeship, resulting in the seizure of 12 tons of dried tobacco without Polish excise tax markings, with an estimated value of more than PLN 6.2 million, as well as the arrest of eight people who were members of the group.
Spokesperson:
During further investigative activities, investigators established that members of the group were also operating in Silesia. As a result, Border Guard officers from Tuplice, together with National Revenue Administration officers from Katowice and the Central Police Investigation Bureau, carried out further operations, this time in Silesian Voivodeship. Searches of several properties uncovered nearly 1.4 tons of tobacco of unknown origin, worth almost PLN 800,000. A further five people suspected of participating in the organized criminal group were arrested during the operations.
Customs officers from the German Customs Investigation Offices in Dresden and Görlitz were also involved in operations against the international criminal group. It was in Germany, on July 8, on the basis of a European Investigation Order, that a consignment of more than 5 tons of tobacco was uncovered; some of it had already been loaded onto trucks.
Border Guard Major J. Konieczniak:
All the arrested individuals were brought to the Wielkopolska Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Poznań, where they were charged with participation in an organized criminal group involved in distributing illegal excise goods.
She adds: “The investigation in this case has been conducted by Border Guard and National Revenue Administration officers since May 2017. This cooperation made it possible not only to stop individual shipments but also to uncover the entire complex mechanism used by the criminals. In total, all the services involved in the operations seized 64 tons of dried tobacco and 7 tons of cut tobacco worth PLN 35.5 million, secured more than PLN 950,000 in cash, and charged 41 people with participation in an organized criminal group.
The case is developing, and further arrests cannot be ruled out.