Huge Batch of Counterfeit Cigarettes Worth $5 Million With Well-Known Foreign Trademarks Destroyed in Ryazan

A huge batch of counterfeit cigarettes with well-known trademarks worth $5 million dollars was destroyed today in Ryazan. Police seized the fake products a year ago during a special operation aimed at shutting down the largest channel for trafficking tobacco products from Russia to the E.U.

"An examination of the cigarettes revealed that products bearing the L&M, Marlboro and HB trademarks are inappropriate even for reprocessing," 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, told Itar-TASS, adding: "That was why it was decided to destroy the entire batch."

He said that a huge 5-meter deep pit had been dug at an industrial landfill in Ryazan. "The pit filled with about 5,000 boxes of counterfeits was driven over by bulldozers a few times. Only when the cigarettes mixed with the ground did excavators start backfilling the huge pit," Vorobyov said.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia told Itar-TASS that the counterfeit cigarettes had been produced at the Shilovo Tobacco Factory. The cost of producing a pack of cigarettes is 18-30 cents (about 5.3-8.7 rubles), while the retail price abroad varies from $5 to $10 dollars. The criminal group included 12 people. "The criminals transported cigarettes in trucks and used hay or other goods as a disguise," the Ministry said. The criminals primarily focused on the international market. From Russian the cigarettes were shipped to Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic States, and then made their way to Germany, the U.K. and Denmark.