Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office, on November 26, the head of an agricultural enterprise was informed of suspicion of illegal production, storage, and sale of excise goods - tobacco (Part 1, Part 2 of Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

For his shadow business, the man used his own and rented fields in the Dnistrovskyi district of Chernivtsi region, where he had recently grown agricultural crops. In the spring of this year, he organized illegal tobacco plantings, and from August to September, he harvested the crop. To establish a full production cycle, the entrepreneur installed 12 container drying chambers and equipped workshops for cleaning, sorting, pressing, and packaging the leaves. He stored the finished products in his own and rented premises.

It is worth noting that in September of this year, prosecutors, together with law enforcement officers, uncovered an underground tobacco factory. More than 25 tons of tobacco raw materials were seized, as well as dryers, production equipment, and special machinery. The estimated value of the seized property is about 30 million UAH. All property and counterfeit products have been seized.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by detectives of the Territorial Department of the Bureau of Economic Security in Chernivtsi region with operational support from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

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.