According to the investigation, a group of individuals organized an illegal scheme for the sale of counterfeit products through a network of stores in Lviv.

This concerns electronic cigarettes of various flavors and the liquids for them.

To do this, they smuggled excise goods into the territory of Ukraine. Subsequently, using the logistics services of one of the transport companies, they delivered wholesale batches of goods to Lviv.

Retail sales of the products were conducted through a network of specialized stores under the guise of legitimate activity.

During the conduct of 15 searches at the locations of storage and sale of smuggled excise goods, as well as in vehicles, more than 52,000 bottles of liquids for "e-cigarettes," nearly 750 electronic vaporizers, as well as documents and notes regarding the activities of the stores, mobile and payment terminals were discovered and seized.

The estimated value of the seized products is almost 16 million UAH. 

Under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office, detectives from the Territorial Department of the State Bureau of Investigation in the Lviv region are conducting a pre-trial investigation under Part 1 of Article 201-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – smuggling of excise goods. Operational support is provided by the 6th Border Detachment of the Volyn Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the 7th Border Detachment of the Carpathian Border Guard Service of Ukraine, and the Western Regional Department of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

After receiving the conclusions of the expert examinations, a decision will be made regarding the notification of suspicions to the organizers of the illegal activity.