During a specialized police operation carried out yesterday, a total of 1,161,500 boxes or 23,230,000 cigarette stubs without a wrapper were found. They are of three different brands and found in a farm shed on the land of the village. Tsaratsovo, region Plovdiv. According to the prepared expert report, their total value is nearly BGN 8,000,000. The action is carried out by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs-GDBOP under the supervision of the District Prosecutor's Office – Plovdiv.
The depot was established two days after a police operation of the GDBOP in the land of the village. Skutare, region Plovdiv, where a Mercedes truck was discovered, loaded with 294,000 packs of cigarettes without a label, with a total value of BGN 1,881,600. At the moment, the evidence indicates that the cigarettes found in the warehouse near the village. Skutare and the depot in the village Tsaratsovo are of the same brand and content. The total value of the unpaid excise duty is over 4 million. leva.
So far, decrees have been drawn up to bring six persons as defendants, including two foreigners – Slovak and Ukrainian citizen. Five have been charged and the sixth is being sought. The charges brought against them are that, as co-perpetrators, they kept with the purpose of distribution excise goods without a banderol – cigarettes, as the object of the crime is in particularly large quantities.
The five defendants were detained for up to 72 hours by decree of the supervising prosecutor.