Vitebsk customs officers prevented the illegal export of about 5,000 packs of cigarettes to Latvia

July 18, Minsk /Corr. BELTA/. Vitebsk customs officers detected the illegal movement of a large batch of cigarettes at the Urbany border crossing point on the Belarusian-Latvian section of the border. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the State Customs Committee's press service. During customs control operations, it was discovered that the glove compartment of a Mercedes-Benz vehicle, which was heading from Belarus to Latvia, was packed with cigarette packs. This served as grounds for a thorough inspection of the vehicle. As a result, it turned out that the minivan was literally stuffed with tobacco products marked with the excise stamps of the Republic of Belarus. As reported by the press service, the driver managed to place about 5,000 packs of Queen Superslims, Magnat, and Premier cigarettes in all sorts of cavities and technological niches of the vehicle - in the bumpers, doors, under the seats and the front panel, as well as in specially adapted hiding places under the car's chassis. Customs officers had to spend several hours to find and remove all the cigarette packs. The driver's ingenuity did not help him avoid responsibility for violating the law. An administrative process has been initiated regarding the offense. The illegally transported goods with a preliminary value of over Br16 million and the Mercedes minivan with an estimated value of Br85 million have been seized. -0-