The Financial Administration last week detected the largest ever illegal cigarette production plant in Slovakia as part of an operation codenamed Black Panther, Financial Administration president Jiri Žežulka told a news conference on Tuesday.
During the raids in Lučenec and Tomášovce (both Banska Bystrica region), the Financial Administration criminal office seized two complete cigarette production lines, along with 24.6 million cigarettes and more than 44 tonnes of tobacco. The value of the potential VAT and excise tax evasion was calculated at some €6 million.
Sixteen Ukrainians and two Slovaks were detained in the operation, in which the Financial Administration cooperated with the National Crime Agency (NAKA), the Slovak army and fire-fighters. A judge from the Lučenec district court remanded them in custody. "Over the past two weeks we've seized six times more cigarettes than we did during the whole of last year," stated Žežulka.
According to Žežulka, Black Panther wasn't the only operation to bring results over the past couple of weeks. In the past 14 days, the Financial Administration has notched up four major seizures of illegal cigarette and tobacco imports, mainly in Vyšné Nemecké (Kosice region) and in the Orava area.
Producing, smuggling or smoking illegal cigarettes is viewed as supporting criminal groups and impoverishing the country and its citizens, stated Finance Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO). "With these operations we didn't only protect the state from tax evasion, but also people's health," added the minister.
