Illegal tobacco cutting factory in Mysłowice dismantled – 61-year-old from Sosnowiec faces charges
The Tax Authority and police liquidated an illegal tobacco cutting factory in Mysłowice. Five people were arrested and losses to the state treasury were estimated at nearly 235,000 zlotys.
Joint operation by Tax Authority and police dismantles illegal tobacco production in Mysłowice
According to gov.pl, officers from the Silesian Customs and Tax Office in Katowice and the City Police Command in Mysłowice conducted a joint operation targeting an illegal tobacco manufacturing facility. As a result, five people were arrested and production machinery along with goods were seized.
The authorities established that a production line for manufacturing cut tobacco could have been operating at one of the properties in Mysłowice. On site, a 41-year-old woman and her two sons, aged 17 and 19, were found. A service dog named Major, trained to detect tobacco, participated in the search.
In an outbuilding at the rear of the property, officers discovered a machine for producing cut tobacco, over 136 kilograms of tobacco and 4.5 kilograms of tobacco residue. In the residential building, 100 cigarettes and 4 litres of alcohol without Polish excise marks were also found. A fourth resident of the property was apprehended at another location – all four were arrested.
During the subsequent investigation, a fifth person was identified. Police officers arrested a 61-year-old man at his flat in Sosnowiec. During the proceedings, the suspect admitted that both the machine and the seized tobacco products were his property. Additionally, 5 litres of alcohol without excise marks were discovered in the Sosnowiec premises.
The 61-year-old was charged with excise duty goods handling. The four-person family from Mysłowice, after giving statements, was released.
The Silesian Customs and Tax Office in Katowice estimated that had the seized goods reached the market, the loss to the state treasury from unpaid excise duty and VAT would have amounted to 234,900 zlotys.
Source: Google News PL — Crime (pl)