In the first half of October 2026, officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police (CBŚP) and the District Police Headquarters in Szamotuły dismantled a criminal organization engaged in the illegal production of tobacco products. The operations were carried out in Wóloski County, where investigators shut down an illegal factory operating in rented warehouse halls. As a result of the operation, 20 people were detained, and the court applied temporary detention for all of them.
The start of the investigation
The case began when police officers from Szamotuły conducted a traffic control of a truck. In the trailer of the vehicle, they discovered 9.9 million cigarettes that did not bear the required Polish excise stamps. Securing this load allowed investigators to make further determinations, leading them to locate the places where the actual production and packaging of the goods took place. CBŚP officers from the Headquarters in Poznań, together with police officers from Szamotuły, determined that the criminal activity was housed in warehouse halls in Wóloski County.
Scale of the seizure
The operation was carried out during ongoing production. On the spot, 14 citizens of Paraguay and 4 citizens of Poland were detained. Additionally, based on prior findings regarding illegal transport, two more persons were detained. During the search of the warehouse halls, officers secured another 4.7 million cigarettes of various brands, prepared for introduction into circulation. The facilities also contained over 8.5 tons of dried tobacco, dozens of pallets of semi-finished products, and a complete technological line used for the production and packaging of cigarettes.
In total, taking into account the illegal transport revealed during the traffic control and the stocks in the halls, investigators secured 14.6 million cigarettes.
Legal consequences
All the detained individuals were brought to the District Prosecutor's Office in Szamotuły. They were charged with, among other things, participation in a criminal organization and tax offenses. Upon the prosecutor's motion, the court applied temporary detention for all 20 suspects. According to the investigators' findings, had the illegal products reached the market, the State Treasury's losses from unpaid taxes and excise duties would have exceeded 31 million PLN.