Polish Border Guards detained five people suspected of participating in an organized criminal group involved in the smuggling of tobacco products using freight trains

The dismantled criminal group consisted of five Polish citizens. The activity consisted of smuggling tobacco products from Belarus to Poland, in goods transported by rail through the border crossing in Terespol. The cigarettes smuggled in railway depots were hidden in Belarus in cargo and thus reached the territory of Poland. This is where the next stage of smuggling took place, namely extracting the contraband and taking it to the so-called chop shop. The investigation findings indicate that the perpetrators could have illegally introduced excise goods to the domestic market in the amount of no less than 77 thousand packages worth PLN 1 million 86 thousand.

The suspects were brought to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Zamość, where they were charged with, among other things, participation in and management of an organized criminal group, which are sanctioned by penalties of up to 5 and 10 years of imprisonment. The prosecutor applied non-custodial preventive measures against the suspects in the form of property bail, a ban on leaving the country and police supervision.