An illegal market for the smuggling of imported goods is flourishing in Russian social networks - from the delivery of documents and medicines to the transfer of luxury accessories and electronic devices, writes the newspaper "Izvestia".
The trade is organized in a way that is well known to us during the time of socialism: individual Russians travel abroad, buy the necessary goods, and then bring them into Russia in the form of personal belongings.
Luxury items, jewelry, and expensive electronic services. There are "multiple channels" operating on social networks, in which services are openly offered for obtaining documents, keys, security products, presentation goods, medicines and others from abroad.
ΠIn April, customs officers detained a 32-year-old Russian woman who tried to smuggle into the UAE products from famous jewelry brands: Sartier, Hermes, Van Cleef & Arpels, Cassa G, Rolex. The Emirates most often try to bring undeclared goods into Russia, including watches and rings presented as gifts.
There is also movement in the opposite direction. For example, at the Grozny airport in late February, three Russians traveling to Istanbul were caught trying to smuggle out gold chains made of 999 gold with a total weight of 730 grams worth 5.7 million rubles.
ΠA similar case was registered with a 26-year-old Russian who tried to smuggle out 245 grams of gold, valued at 3.8 million money.
"There are people who make a living by transporting things - usually girls with model looks who often fly to the UAE and Western countries. Another category of couriers is airline employees. "Cabin crews have a fairly modest salary, so some violate the internal labor regulations and customs regulations - they take orders for goods from abroad and receive a solid percentage of it," a source in the transport police explained before the publication.
According to data from the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, the number of established Smuggling cases since the start of the war in Ukraine have increased from 258 cases in 2022 to 419 cases in 2024. For the first months of 2025. Customs authorities have opened 121 cases of smuggling.
The total value of the goods transported this year is 1.5 billion rubles.
Smuggling is jewelry and precious items if their total value exceeds 10,000 euros and they are not declared. The same limit applies to electronic devices and equipment, while for precious stones the limit is up to 25,000 euros.
In addition, since the beginning of the current year, 226 administrative cases have been opened in the field of customs legislation, related to attempts to transport "strategically important goods and products".
The value of The confiscated items amounted to 74.8 million rubles. In total, for the period 2022-2024, customs officers seized 3,758 products in such cases (the Russians tried to smuggle goods worth 1.9 billion rubles).
ΠMost of the seized items, customs officers claim, were not in compliance with customs regulations. The FMC notes that they most often try to smuggle alcoholic and tobacco products, wood and jewelry.