Moskal: “The driver of the truck with contraband detained by Slovaks had crossed the border 17 times with “empty” truck

The detention of the truck confirms the existence of an international criminal group involving officials of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine and the customs authorities of Slovakia

  The Transcarpathian Regional Administration found out the identity of the truck driver, who was detained with contraband cigarettes by the financial police Slovakia near the city of Michalovce (Slovakia).

– It’s a Mykhailo Rusin, who was driving the truck "Renault Magnum", license plate AO 0656 AA, trailer AO 5291 XX – Hennadiy Moskal said. – And the owner of the truck is Ivan Sukhar from the village of Lintsi in Uzhgorod district. On Monday, December 19, on the Day of St. Nicholas, at 17.53, the "empty" truck crossed the Ukrainian-Slovak border through the checkpoint "Uzhgorod". And was detained by the financial police of Slovakia 40 km from the border near the village of Lucky, at an agricultural farm, with 145 thousand cartons of cigarettes. We have found out that over the past two months, after the replacement of the Transcarpathian customs office management, this truck has crossed the Ukrainian-Slovak border 17 times, each time "empty."

This suggests two conclusions. The first – the truck with cigarettes was cleared not only by our, but also by Slovak customs officers, who have scanners and the latest equipment to detect contraband. That means that Slovak customs officers are as corrupt as ours – it’s a proven fact. And the second – the detention of the truck with cigarettes, which had passed two customs inspections without problems, confirms the existence of an international organized crime group involving high-ranking officials of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine and the customs authorities of Slovakia.

I am waiting a reaction of the SFS and the Cabinet to these flagrant cases of smuggling.