The Lower Silesian and Mazovian branches of the National Revenue Administration (KAS), together with the Central Bureau of Police Investigation Board in Warsaw, dismantled a cigarette factory in Wrocław County and arrested five Ukrainian citizens. – When officers entered the factory, the detainees were engaged in cigarette production – informs Agnieszka Rzeźnicka-Gniadek, spokesperson for the Lower Silesian KAS. – During subsequent operations in Oława County, a warehouse containing illegal tobacco, cigarettes and components for their production was discovered. A man suspected of involvement in the illegal operation was arrested.
She adds:
During both operations, officers secured a specialized production machine, nearly 400,000 finished cigarettes and components for their manufacture, including 1.3 tonnes of tobacco, cartons of filters, wrappers, paper and filter bands bearing a counterfeit trademark of a well-known tobacco company. The machine could produce as many as 1 million cigarettes a day.
Production took place in rooms on two floors. A cigarette-making machine was located in the warehouse hall, accessible only through a concealed lift.
The value of the secured production line, cigarettes, tobacco and components for their manufacture was estimated at approximately PLN 2 million. Had the seized tobacco products reached the market, the State Treasury would have lost nearly PLN 3 million.
KAS:
Fiscal criminal charges and charges of participation in an organized criminal group were brought against two additional people. By court decision, all those arrested were remanded in custody. Investigators are clarifying the circumstances of the case and the roles of the individual suspects in the uncovered operation. The investigation is supervised by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Wrocław.