Over the past three months, Slovaks seized at the border 4.5 million Ukrainian cigarettes

"The favorite" place for storage of cigarettes for Ukrainian smugglers are car first aid kits, gear sticks or even lights.

According to Sobranec Office of Finance, during the last three months, at the customs post Vyšné Nemecké – Uzhgorod, Slovaks have found more than 4.5 million illegal cigarettes, "missed" by Ukrainian customs officers. In July-September, customs officials recorded 409 attempts to smuggle tobacco products into Slovakia. The biggest batch of contraband was detained by Slovak customs officers in August near the village of Benatina in ten kilometers from the Ukrainian-Slovak border. The smugglers crossed the border through the mountains, from the village of Dubrynychi in Perechyn district. 19 men were carrying on their backs 8,500 cartons of cigarettes. The estimated value of the seized goods was over 230,000 euros.

The cigarettes, confiscated by Slovak customs officers, are subsequently disposed of at waste incineration plants.