<h2>Wanted manhunt shocks North Rhine-Westphalia: €54 million in damages</h2>
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The news hit like a bolt of lightning yesterday: The Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Essen Customs Investigation Office, and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) publicly searched for Ihor L. for tobacco tax evasion on an unprecedented scale. The focus is on a secret production facility in Düsseldorf where millions of untaxed cigarettes rolled off the assembly line between April 2024 and March 2025.
… The scale is enormous: According to investigators, at least 260 million cigarettes were involved – enough to supply every citizen in Germany almost three times over. But who is behind this heist? Let’s delve deeper.
Next, let’s take a look at the hidden network behind the factory…
…`<strong>` <strong> <strong> </strong>` <strong> </strong>` <strong> </strong>` <strong> </strong>` <strong> </strong>` <strong> </strong>` <h2>The hidden empire of the smugglers</h2>
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Behind inconspicuous warehouse doors in an industrial park in Düsseldorf, high-performance machines operated around the clock. According to Europol data, the group invested several million euros in equipment, raw tobacco, and shell companies. Deliveries took place at night, and the goods were transported away in unmarked trucks equipped with false bottoms.
[[] … Sales were conducted across Europe: distribution centers in Belgium, Poland, and Spain picked up the bars, collected the cash, and converted profits into cryptocurrencies. This allowed the trail to remain virtually invisible until March 2025.
But who is the man who controlled this network? His profile continues…