Anchor: A large batch of counterfeit cigarettes worth almost $5 million was destroyed today in Ryazan. According to the Head Directorate for Economic Crimes, this is the largest batch of counterfeit products in Russia in the past ten years. The counterfeits belonged to a criminal group caught early last year.

An investigation ascertained that since 2001, the Shilovo municipal tobacco factory had been illicitly producing well-known trademark cigarettes intended for export abroad. According to police estimates, the destroyed cigarettes could have filled six railway cars, and a total of 4,500 boxes of counterfeit tobacco products were destroyed.

REN TV 24—Information Program (Moscow) October 7, 2004 View Video