Man arrested in Ziepniekkalns with 847,800 illegal cigarettes and €133,000
Riga's Pārdaugava police arrested a previously convicted cigarette smuggler in Ziepniekkalns in August. Six of his vehicles contained nearly a million illegal cigarettes and €133,430 in cash.
Man arrested in Riga with nearly a million illegal cigarettes
Officers from the State Police Riga Regional Department's Pārdaugava division observed a man moving boxes from one vehicle to another in the Ziepniekkalns neighbourhood on 24 August. According to Diena, police officers approached the man and asked him to show the contents of the boxes — the suspect admitted that they contained tobacco products without Latvian Republic excise tax stamps.
The arrested man was born in 1966 and has previously been convicted of similar criminal offences. Police conducted eight searches in vehicles belonging to him — six in total — and found 847,800 cigarettes of various brands. Among the confiscated goods were "Marlboro", "Manchester", "Dove", "Minsk", "Davidoff", "Smart" and "Oris" — some bore the excise stamps of the Republic of Belarus, others had no stamps at all.
In addition to the cigarettes, €133,430 in cash was found in the vehicles, which, according to information available to police, was most likely obtained through criminal means. Investigators established that the man had sold the illegal cigarettes to private individuals in Riga.
A criminal case has been initiated under Part Three of Section 221 of the Criminal Law — for storing, transporting or selling tobacco products on a large scale. The law provides for this offence a prison sentence of up to five years, short-term imprisonment, probation supervision, community service or a fine, with or without confiscation of property.
The illegal cigarettes have been transferred for storage to the State Custody Agency and will be destroyed after the procedural actions are completed. The seized cash has been placed under arrest as proceeds of crime. During the investigation, a decision will also be made on placing arrest on the vehicles.
Source: Diena