Seven defendents introduced illegal goods worth PLN 80 million to Poland

Officers from the Border Guard and Customs and Tax Office conducted a joint investigation into illegal production, smuggling and trade in tobacco products without Polish excise stamps. 

On the basis of the material collected by them, the National Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice, which supervised the proceedings, filed indictments with the District Court in Katowice against 7 members of an organized criminal group, dealing not only with the illegal production, smuggling and trade in tobacco products, but also the sale of drugs and steroids. 

The criminals were accused of committing many acts included, among others, in the Penal Code, the Fiscal Penal Code, the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction, the Pharmaceutical Law and the Act on the manufacture of ethyl alcohol and the manufacture of tobacco products. 

The findings of the investigators show that the members of the group operated throughout Poland. Criminal activity consisted mainly in the processing of tobacco leaves and trade in goods without the required excise stamps. People belonging to an organized crime group formed a hermetic network of interrelationships, performed previously established roles: manufacturer, warehouse keeper, supplier, carrier or recipient of tobacco products. The perpetrators introduced excise goods with a total value of PLN 80 million. The court will decide their fate.