Contraband at the border. The budget could have lost over PLN 5 million
Nearly 200 thousand packs of Belarusian cigarettes were intercepted by officers of the Podlasie National Tax Administration near the Polish-Lithuanian border. If the secured cigarettes were put on sale, the state budget would lose over PLN 5.2 million.
Customs and Tax Service officers from the Podlaskie Voivodeship Office stopped a truck driven by a 40-year-old Belarusian citizen for inspection in Budzisko. The man claimed that he was bringing a container from Latvia, but he did not know what was inside.
The truck was X-rayed with an X-ray scanner. During the search, it turned out that the container was carrying plastic crates and hidden among them were Belarusian cigarettes – almost 200,000. donut.
If the contraband detected by the National Audit Office were entered into illegal trade, the state budget would lose over PLN 5.2 million.
An investigation was initiated against the truck driver, supervised by the District Prosecutor's Office in Suwałki. He faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
