Širvintai police shut down four illegal tobacco and alcohol sales outlets in one week
Over the course of a week, Širvintai district police have suppressed four illegal excisable goods sales outlets, seizing more than 1,550 packages of cigarettes and alcohol.
Four illegal sales locations in Širvintai district shut down in one week
Over the course of a week – from 27 August to 3 September – officers of Širvintai district police commissariat neutralised four illegal cigarette and alcohol sales locations, 15min reported. A total of more than 1,550 packages of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages were seized from illegal circulation.
27 August, Širvintai. Officers discovered and confiscated approximately 170 packages of cigarettes and approximately 15 litres of alcoholic beverages from a 61-year-old man.
1 September, Širvintai. Following a test purchase, 673 packages of cigarettes and beer were seized from another 61-year-old individual. On the same day in Kieliai village, an 81-year-old woman sold 10 packages of cigarettes during a test purchase; upon inspection of her residential address, police discovered and additionally confiscated more than 200 packages of cigarettes.
3 September, Šeiniūnai village. Approximately 503 packages of cigarettes without Lithuanian Republic tax stamps were taken from a resident.
Fines or imprisonment of up to eight years threatened
Police remind that illegal possession of excisable goods entails both administrative and criminal liability – this depends on the nature of the violation, quantity and value of goods. For smaller-scale violations, Article 209 of the Administrative Offences Code applies, which provides for fines and confiscation of goods. When the value of illegally held goods reaches the thresholds established in the Criminal Code, Article 199² of the Criminal Code provides for a fine or imprisonment of up to 4, 6 or 8 years.
Officers emphasise that the harm caused by smuggling is not limited to tax losses: profits from black market sales can be used to finance other illegal activity.
Police call for reports of known sales locations
The Širvintai district commissariat thanked district residents for information about potentially illegal activity being conducted. "Every piece of information provided by a resident can become an important link in preventing illegal sales. Therefore, we call upon you to continue to be vigilant – if you know of locations where contraband cigarettes or other illegally obtained excisable goods are potentially being sold, report it to police," the commissariat's statement indicated.
Possible legal violations can be reported by calling the emergency services number 112 or through other police information channels. According to officers, monitoring of illegal sales of excisable goods will remain one of the priority areas of activity for Širvintai district police commissariat.
Source: 15min