A criminal group illegally smuggling meat to Russia has been detained in the Vitebsk region

В Витебской области задержана преступная группа, нелегально вывозившая мясо в Россию

The Financial Police, KGB, and Department of Internal Affairs have suppressed the activities of an organized criminal group that was exporting beef out of Belarus, the regional department of the Financial Investigations Department informed a BELTA correspondent.

The criminal group included ten active members. They were engaged in entrepreneurial activities without state registration in 2013-2015.

Led by a 42-year-old resident of Miory, the group members systematically purchased meat in Belarus at a price below cost (mainly from agricultural enterprises in the region) and sold it to customers in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The goods were delivered to Russia in a refrigerated truck. Group members escorted it to the border to prevent the detention and confiscation of the transported meat. At least two vehicle crews and two foot patrols equipped with radio stations were used.

The Investigative Committee Department for the Vitebsk Region has initiated a criminal case under Part 3 of Article 233 (illegal entrepreneurial activity committed by an organized criminal group).

The group's annual income was at least 10 billion rubles. Property worth at least 5 billion rubles belonging to the leader (several houses, apartments, plots of land) has been seized. Investigators are checking if the woman has any other real estate.

Cars belonging to the leader and members of the criminal group, worth at least 1.5 billion rubles, have been seized, as well as 2 tons of meat in carcasses found in the refrigerated truck. Expensive property at the residence of the organizer and other participants of the illegal business has also been seized.

The group leader and two of its active members have been taken into custody. Measures are being taken to identify other individuals involved in illegal activities.

Ekaterina Knyazeva