Batch of Cigarettes Worth $5 Million Destroyed in Ryazan

A large batch of counterfeit cigarettes worth about $5 million has been destroyed in Ryazan. The counterfeit cigarettes were dumped into a pit at an industrial landfill and driven over by bulldozers and graders, after which the pit was backfilled.

The destroyed batch of counterfeit products is the largest in the past 10 years, said Alexander Vorobyov, press secretary at the Head Directorate for Economic Crimes of the Federal Service for Economic and Tax Crimes of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs.

He said that the counterfeit cigarettes were produced at the Shilovo Tobacco Factory and criminals started manufacturing the products without rights holders' authorization in the summer of 2001. Cigarettes of such well-known trademarks as LM, Marlboro and Camel were produced at the Shilovo facilities.