Border Guards Thwart Largest Ever Attempt to Smuggle Cigarettes Across Polish Border

Polish Border Guards prevented the smuggling of over 1.8 million packs of illegal cigarettes. The value of contraband intercepted at the road border crossing in Kuźnica is nearly PLN 27.6 million. This is the largest ever thwarted attempt to smuggle cigarettes at Polish border crossings.
Contraband was arrested by Border Guard and KAS officers from the Polish-Belarusian border crossing in Kuźnica. During a detailed inspection of two Polish trucks entering our country, they revealed that instead of the declared boards in their trailers, there are huge amounts of cigarettes without Polish excise stamps.

In one of the trailers, officers revealed 927.5 thousand. packs of cigarettes, while in the second 918 thousand. In total, in both trailers there were over 1.8 million packs of Belarusian cigarettes with an estimated value of nearly PLN 27.6 million. If the illegal goods were sold, the State Treasury would lose over PLN 44.8 million.

An investigation has been initiated against three Polish citizens (two drivers and their substitute), which is being conducted by officers from the Podlasie Border Guard Unit. Cigarettes and trucks were secured to the case. Additionally, in one of the vehicles, the officers found an interference in the number field of the body.

The detained men aged 19, 21 and 55 were arrested by a court decision for three months. They face imprisonment of up to 10 years.