Polish border guards and police detained nine people aged between 45 and 66 in an operation targeting an organized illegal tobacco network. The group includes eight Polish citizens and one Ukrainian national.

inPoland.net.pl reported the case on Tuesday, October 27. The operation was carried out by the Nadbużański Border Guard unit with the police’s Central Bureau of Investigation, while prosecutors in Zamość are overseeing the inquiry.

Investigators allege that during 2025 and 2026 the network transported, stored and distributed wholesale quantities of cigarettes made on an unlawful production line and bearing no excise stamps. Authorities also searched property and vehicles linked to the suspects.

Poland’s Treasury was allegedly deprived of at least 6.6 million zlotys in excise revenue and more than 1.6 million zlotys in VAT. The suspects face prison terms of up to eight years, while the alleged leader could receive up to 10 years for directing an organized criminal group. A Zamość court ordered six of those detained to remain in custody for the next three months.