Criminal group specialized in clandestine manufacture of cigarettes broken up

Chisinau, April 11 /MOLDPRES/- PCCOCS prosecutors, jointly with SIS officers, seized over 800,000 cigarettes and packs for the packaging of 13 million cigarettes in Comrat and detained two members of the criminal group responsible for clandestine cigarette production and smuggling.

According to the PCCOCS, following the searches carried out at the factory, six cigarette production lines were found that ensured the entire production process (crushing, fermentation of tobacco, production, packaging and application of the forged excise stamp). In addition to the more than 800,000 cigarettes marked with excise stamps with signs of forgery, 44,000 excise stamps with signs of forgery were also seized, new packages (printing material) for packing 13 million cigarettes, about eight tons of tobacco raw for production, between 2-3 tons of fermented tobacco ready for bulk production, matrix for the production of cigarettes and other consumables.

Prosecutors said that the cigarettes were to be smuggled to Ukraine. After the searches, the person in charge involved in managing the production process and one of the organizers of the illicit scheme were detained.