2024-07-13 06:14:21
At the international airport of Catania, located on the Italian island of Sicily, four Belarusians were detained, who are suspected of smuggling cigarettes, according to a joint statement. press release The Customs and Monopolies Agency and the Italian Financial Guard.
Cases of illegal importation of cigarettes in the period from April to July 2024 were discovered during inspections carried out on flights from Greece (direct and transit) as part of the fight against the smuggling of man-made tobacco products abroad.
During this period, in the luggage of four citizens of Belarus (two of them came from Thessaloniki via Stuttgart and Athens, two others – on a direct flight from Athens), foreign-made cigarettes without Italian excise stamps with a total weight of 215.5 kg . received.
Cigarettes were seized. After that, three Belarusians were arrested and handed over to the judicial authorities, one more was left at large.
Belarusians face between two and five years in prison for smuggling cigarettes in Italy. They will also be fined 5.16 euros for each conditional gram of tobacco they have carried.
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