Criminal investigators from the Financial Administration (the tax and customs office) have seized more than 12 tonnes of illegal tobacco, with the excise duty evaded estimated at more than €1 million. "In addition, three people of Moldovan, Romanian and Ukrainian nationality were detained as part of an operation codenamed Courier," said Financial Administration spokeswoman Martina Rybanska on Monday. The spokesperson further reported that during an inspection of storage facilities in the Komarno district, southern Slovakia, customs officers found cardboard boxes containing tobacco raw materials and technical equipment for processing and drying tobacco. "A total of 12.3 tonnes of tobacco raw material was present in the building, and the perpetrators handled it in violation of the Act on Excise Duty on Tobacco Products, incurring losses to the state in terms of [evaded] excise tax worth €1.1 million," added Rybanska. If the detainees are found guilty, they might face up to three to eight years in prison.
Source: TASR
