UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 10, 2018. A large-scale no-excise-duties-paid cigarette-smuggling channel got uncovered at Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport Customs, Ural Customs’ press service reports.

A routine inspection resulted in finding 1,500 kg of cigarettes that got imported to Russia illegally. It was determined that the offenders had been buying the tobacco produce in Kyrgyzstan and transferring it to Yekaterinburg. A customs check at the airport’s freight terminal revealed that the packets of cigarettes had no Russian excise duty stamps on them.

Both the confiscated cigarettes and the case files have been placed with Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state-run consumer rights watchdog). An administrative offense suit is to follow.