Five people were detained on suspicion of operating in an organised criminal group involved in the illegal trade in cigarettes and tobacco

The arrests are the result of joint actions of Polish border guards from Jelenia Góra, officers of the Central Police Investigation Bureau from Olsztyn and the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra.

As a result of the searches, cigarettes of various brands and smoking tobacco were seized. The suspects are men aged 53 to 80 from the Lower Silesian and Łódź provinces. Some of them had been convicted of similar crimes in the past.

The perpetrators were charged with participation in an organized criminal group (in the period from October 2022 to March 2023) and committing fiscal crimes consisting in possession and trade in illegal excise goods. These activities caused losses to the State Treasury in the total amount of over PLN 9 million.