Vitebsk customs prevented the illegal export of almost 5.4 thousand packs of cigarettes

March 5, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. The Vitebsk customs at the Belarusian-Latvian border in the Verkhnedvinsk and Braslav districts have stopped the illegal export of three batches of cigarettes, which were transported in secret compartments of cars. The total value of the seized goods and vehicles exceeded Br250 million, the head of the operational search department of the customs, Petr Markachevsky, told a BELTA correspondent. In all cases, the cars were transiting from Russia to Latvia. In a Volvo truck, the tobacco products were hidden in technological voids behind the cabin trim and around the entire perimeter of the cabin. On two other occasions, customs officers found double floors: in a Peugeot minivan and a Citroen car, the drivers had adapted the voids under the floor in the vehicle's cabin as secret compartments for smuggling cigarettes. In total, almost 5.4 thousand packs of Russian-made cigarettes were seized from illegal circulation. An administrative process has been initiated in these cases under Articles 12.27 and 14.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Belarus. In cases where goods are illegally transported in a secret compartment, the subject of an administrative customs offense is both the goods and the vehicle. The cigarettes and cars have been seized pending a court decision on bringing the guilty parties to justice and confiscating the goods and vehicles. -0-