Officers of the Customs and Tax Service from the Lower Silesian National Revenue Administration (KAS), working with Border Guard (SG) officers, once again detected illegal tobacco, cigarettes and drugs while carrying out official duties at the market in Sieniawka. – During the inspection, they discovered 44 kg of tobacco, 18,500 packs of cigarettes without excise stamps and approximately 25 g of methamphetamine – says Agnieszka Rzeźnicka-Gniadek, press spokesperson for the Lower Silesian KAS.
She adds:
The illegal tobacco products were concealed at market stalls and – as emerged during further activities – on private property. The value of the seized illegal tobacco products and drugs was estimated at more than PLN 313,000. The sale of the illegal tobacco and cigarettes would have resulted in more than PLN 384,000 in excise duty not being paid into the state budget.
Are you buying from an illegal source?
KAS officers warn:
The trade in illegal cigarettes and tobacco is still common at bazaars and marketplaces. Consumers are often unaware that by purchasing illegal tobacco products, they are coming into conflict with the law. They may also be unaware that they face heavy fines for this. Acquiring, storing, transporting, sending and transferring illegal tobacco products, as well as helping to sell or conceal them, constitutes a crime punishable by up to 3 years’ imprisonment or a fiscal offence.
They add: – People who buy cigarettes of unknown origin often also fail to realise that organised criminal groups are behind the production and trade in illegal tobacco products, and that by buying illegal tobacco products they support the black market and illegal trade.
From January to May 2022, officers of the Lower Silesian Customs and Tax Office in Wrocław had already uncovered more than 3.6 million cigarettes without excise stamps (180,000 packs of cigarettes), 6,777 kg of tobacco and 9,453 kg of dried tobacco. The sale of these illegal goods would have resulted in approximately PLN 16.8 million in excise duty and VAT not being paid into the state budget.