Belarusian Cigarettes Worth Nearly $1 Million Seized From Truck in Russia

Russian customs officers seized a large shipment of Belarusian-made cigarettes in Smolensk region, the Smolensk Customs Service reported on August 26.

The truck carrying the contraband was found to contain 535,000 packs of cigarettes without the required markings. The shipment was preliminarily valued at more than 81 million rubles.

The truck was stopped near Gnyozdovo. According to the accompanying documents, it was allegedly transporting more than 19 tonnes of Belarusian kvass from Belarus to Russia. However, during a customs inspection, officers found nine brands of cigarettes without excise stamps or accompanying documents instead of the declared goods.

A criminal case was opened against the driver and his accomplices, whose identities have not yet been established, on charges of “smuggling strategically important goods on a large scale, committed by a group of persons acting in prior collusion.” The offense carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million rubles.

The operation was carried out jointly with officers from the Smolensk Region Directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service.