Counterfeit goods worth 50 million hryvnias: underground workshop busted in Kryvyi Rih. PHOTOS
In Kryvyi Rih, an underground network that manufactured and sold counterfeit cigarettes and alcohol in the Dnipropetrovsk region has been shut down.
Under the procedural guidance of the prosecutor's office, 13 participants in the scheme were exposed, from the organiser to the "workers" of the underground workshops and logisticians who ensured the delivery and sale of products, according to Censor.NET.
In February 2026, they were detained and served notices of suspicion.
The investigation established that the organizer of the unlawful scheme was a 36-year-old local resident who coordinated the actions of the other participants, including assigning roles and controlling the sale of the products.
Four "workers" manufactured the cigarettes. The rest handled raw material supplies, logistics, product storage, "off-the-books" accounting, and the administration of the clandestine workshops.
To produce the counterfeit goods, the suspects set up premises in Kryvyi Rih, constantly changing their location for reasons of secrecy. Garage units were used as warehouses. The finished products were sold through controlled shops, either with forged excise tax stamps or without them at all.
During the special operation, law enforcement officers and prosecutors conducted more than 80 authorised searches, during which they seized products worth more than 50 million hryvnias.
In particular, about 340,000 packs of cigarettes, 25 bags of tobacco, more than 600,000 cigarette "tubes," 4 cigarette-making devices, nearly 2,000 containers with liquids for electronic cigarettes, 5,000 liters of liquid resembling alcohol, mobile phones and computer equipment, 5 vehicles, draft records related to unlawful activities, and cash in various currencies totaling over 6.2 million hryvnias were seized.
Thirteen participants in the scheme were served notices of suspicion on charges of using forged excise tax stamps, illegal circulation of excisable goods, and legalization of proceeds obtained by criminal means, committed by a group of persons upon prior conspiracy. Preventive measures were imposed on all suspects.
