Belarusian customs authorities have thwarted a smuggling operation involving Polish apples entering the Eurasian Economic Union.
The illicit scheme involved the use of counterfeit accompanying documents and phytosanitary certificates for 70 batches, totalling 1400 tons of Polish apples, transported through Belarus into Russia engaging 19 Polish carriers.
Documents falsely portrayed a Moldovan company as the sender, with recipients listed in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Belarusian customs officers determined that the entire shipment originated from warehouses in Poland, where they were subsequently offloaded in Russian markets.
The smuggling operation was solidified with information obtained from Moldovan customs services, confirming no export of fruits from Moldova. Polish trucks transporting the goods were also absent from Moldovan territory.
The total value of the smuggled fruits surpassed 1 million euros. Administrative measures have been initiated against the carriers, including the imposition of asset arrests on their transportation and financial resources by Belarusian operational customs.
source: customs.gov.by