Prosecutors of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, together with employees of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Odesa region and investigators of the State Bureau of Investigations in Mykolaiv, uncovered corruption involving four inspectors from one of the divisions of the Odesa Customs.

According to the investigation, customs officers, who were supposed to combat smuggling and violations of customs legislation, instead established a corrupt mechanism. Entrepreneurs were forced to pay money for the unhindered movement of goods across the customs border.

The fee ranged from 120 to 200 US dollars for each vehicle.

Given the average volume of export shipments, this scheme could generate up to 5,000 US dollars weekly from just one checkpoint.

Currently, four officials have been notified of suspicion under Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (receiving unlawful benefits).

The prosecutor's office is initiating the selection of preventive measures for the suspects and their suspension from their positions. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.