A €89 million tobacco empire: how an international mafia forced Ukrainians to produce a million cigarettes a day

A €89 million tobacco empire: how an international mafia forced Ukrainians to produce a million cigarettes a day

Smuggling Slaves:  over 20 workers from Ukraine and Moldova were exploited as slaves in an underground cigarette factory recently discovered in the Italian city of Gonars. They were forced to produce up to a million cigarettes a day.

According to the investigation, people were recruited online with promises of construction work, but upon arrival in Italy, their documents, phones, and even clothes were taken away. To prevent them from understanding where they were being taken, transportation to the site was carried out with masks on their faces.

«Raw materials arrived from abroad, especially from the eastern region, namely tobacco, which was processed in these factories. There, cigarettes were produced, packaged, then stored in another warehouse, and later distributed abroad. We found cigarettes with labels in different languages, clearly intended for the foreign market».

Investigators established that the factory operated for approximately five months, during which it produced about 137 million cigarettes, or 6.85 million packs, and the volume of the illegal business is estimated at 89 million euros. Behind this activity stood an organized group with connections in Ukraine, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova, but active in Italy through a logistics network centered in an Italian transport company in Trieste.

The investigation is being conducted against 29 persons, three of whom have already been detained. One of the detained is 44-year-old Romanian citizen Ihor Tvihunov, who was caught red-handed with a batch of cigarettes. Also under scrutiny are two Italian citizens. As a result of the investigation, over 77 tons of products, cigarettes, and cut tobacco worth more than 18 million euros were seized. In addition, industrial equipment worth 1.5 million euros, two trucks with trailers, and 7 million parts and materials for cigarette production were confiscated.