At the "Uzhgorod" customs post inspectors of Operations Division of Anti-Smuggling Service and officers of Chop customs office drew up a protocol on the citizen of Ukraine who tried to export from Ukraine 387 packs of cigarettes hidden in two specially made recesses in minivan.

During customs control at the Ukrainian-Slovak border a "Mercedes-Benz 312" minibus driver declared only a small amount of currency and said to customs officials that he was going to Italy without the goods subject to mandatory declaration. However Chop inspectors decided to conduct a thorough inspection of the vehicle.

The inspection confirmed the doubts concerning dishonest intentions of the Ukrainian. Thus in the floor under the passenger seats on both rows of the van inspectors found two specially constructed hiding places.      

The driver immediately recognized the found cigarettes of various brands: «Marlboro», «Winston» and «Glamur» as his property.

Therefore, on the basis of Art. 483, Part 1 of the Customs Code of Ukraine there was written the protocol on violation of the law. Tobacco products, costing 4500 UAH, and minivan, costing 80,000 UAH, have been seized.

It should be noted that such illegal actions entail penalty of not less than 100 percent of the value of hidden goods and the mandatory confiscation thereof together with a minibus.

Source: Victoria Senhetovska, a spokeswoman for Chop Customs