Detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine exposed a scheme of illegal storage and sale of electronic smoking devices without excise tax stamps and hookah tobacco in the Odesa region.
A group of persons was exposed who, starting in 2022, carried out illegal acquisition, storage, and transportation for the purpose of selling excise goods.
Electronic cigarettes were later sold in Odesa and the rest of Ukraine via the Internet.
The detectives searched warehouses and retail premises, residential buildings, and the office of an online store.
As a result of the searches, more than 8,000 electronic cigarettes from various well-known manufacturers, more than 8,700 units of hookah tobacco, and more than 7,000 units of liquid for filling electronic cigarettes were found. Excise products with an estimated value of UAH 6 million ($164 thousand) were seized.
