On March 16, 2024, officials at the Indra customs control point (CCP) identified suspicious areas in two wagons of a train entering Latvia from Belarus with the help of an X-ray machine for cargo control. After removing the securities and opening the hatches of the hopper cars, customs officials found 55 boxes of cigarettes hidden in the cargoes of maize flour and feed pellets.
As a result of the controls, 550,000 cigarettes or 27,500 packs of NZ Black, NZ Gold and Queen Superslims with Belarusian excise duty stamps were seized.
On March 15, on the basis of the results of the automated risk analysis, officers of the Pāternieki CCP diverted a passenger car driven by a Belarusian citizen for inspection with a cargo control X-ray machine. After examining the scanned images, customs experts suspected the presence of undeclared goods in the door structure of the vehicle.
During the in-depth controls and by removing the decorative lining of the car door, cigarettes were found to be hidden from customs control. As a result of the control, 28,800 cigarettes or 1,440 packs of cigarettes NZ Gold, Queen Superslims, and Lucky Strike with Belarusian excise duty stamps were seized.
The amount of unpaid taxes on cigarettes to the State budget is around €133 thousand.
Having detected signs of a criminal offense during the customs control, the case files were handed over to the Tax and Customs Police Directorate of the SRS for a decision on initiating criminal proceedings.
In the first two months of this year, a total of 2.5 million cigarettes were seized as a result of customs controls. The amount of unpaid taxes to the State budget is around €520 thousand.
