Customs officers of the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with employees of the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance, prevented an attempt to unlawfully bring an especially large quantity of undeclared cigarettes into Georgia across the state border.

Within the framework of operational measures and comprehensively conducted customs procedures, it was established that the driver of a freight vehicle engaged in international transportation and registered in Belarus crossed the state border of Georgia through the “Red Bridge” customs checkpoint.

According to the transport documentation and other accompanying cargo documents, the truck was loaded with 290 metal doors, and the final destination country of the goods was the Czech Republic.

As a result of risk assessment and analysis based on established criteria, the aforementioned freight vehicle was stopped and directed to a customs control zone for placement and subsequent detailed inspection. Following the opening of the interior compartment of one of the doors by authorized officials, 1,496 packs of undeclared, non-excise cigarettes concealed inside were discovered.

During the complete inspection of the cargo, a total of 433,840 packs of filtered cigarettes of various brands were identified, namely “Menthol Queen,” “NZ,” and “MINSK”. The total market value of the cigarettes, which were subject to mandatory excise stamp marking, amounted to GEL 2,429,504. The case materials were forwarded to the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance for further action.