Tobacco hidden among tree leaves was smuggled out of a Debrecen waste site – Debrecen news, Debrecen news | Debrecen and Hajdú-Bihar county news
Tobacco hidden among tree leaves was smuggled out of a waste site in Debrecen
Debrecen – The prosecutor’s office brought charges against the two men who transported tobacco waste from a farm for the crime of facilitating the abuse of excise duty.
According to the indictment, the older defendant worked at a waste management site in Debrecen. Based on the contract concluded with the site, a tobacco processing company deposited the waste left over from tobacco processing here, which is utilized at the site by mixing it with sewage sludge and composting the mixture.
On November 19, 2021, two shipments from the tobacco processing company arrive at the site, where the older defendant was tasked with picking up the emptied waste with a machine, pushing it against the wood leaf under the sludge and pressing the mixture into the sewage sludge. During his work, he noticed that when he picked up the tobacco waste with the machine, some of it was scattered next to the spoon. Then he decided to get the tobacco for himself, so he put a small leaf on the scattered waste.
Due to the large amount, the accused could not take the mixture home in a bag, so he told his acquaintance, the younger accused, to deliver it in his van.
Knowing about the intention of the other accused, the younger offender drove into the site, where his companion loaded the flatbed vehicle shown in the picture, then drove in front of a property in Debrecen, where he stopped the car and left it with the cargo.
The following morning, the competent tax authority patrols conducted an excise inspection at the property and found the tobacco product packed on the pallet and mixed between leaves, which were later transported and sorted.
During the investigation carried out by the competent criminal directorate of the National Tax and Customs Administration, it emerged that the weight of the dried tobacco transported by the defendants was nearly 600 kilograms.
Based on the tax legislation, the dried excise product is intended for smoking, and the quantity reached a significant amount, so obtaining it would have required a special permit, which the men did not have.
The Debrecen Public Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against the older defendant, who confessed to the crime, and the crime of facilitating the abuse of excise duty committed on a number of raw materials at the Debrecen District Court. In its indictment, the district prosecutor’s office proposed that the district court, on the basis of case files, impose a criminal sentence without a trial, a suspended prison sentence, and a fine against the defendants.