Thessaloniki: 60-year-old man convicted for arriving at Macedonia airport with 3,000 cigarette packs

The Single-Member Plenary Court of Thessaloniki imposed a total sentence of eight months in prison, suspended for three years, on a 60-year-old man who was arrested at Macedonia airport for carrying two suitcases filled with cigarettes that did not have the required tax bands.

According to the indictment, the man was located and arrested last Saturday night by Customs inspectors at Macedonia Airport after using information received from Frankfurt International Airport.

According to customs officials, the investigation found that the 60-year-old man had started his journey from Istanbul, where he allegedly passed the suitcases with 3,000 packs of cigarettes and arrived at Macedonia Airport via Frankfurt.

Having received information, the Greek customs officials identified him from his passport photo and located him as soon as the flight landed.

Initially the suitcases were placed in the special screening (x-ray) machines where they were found to contain 3,000 packets of cigarettes which bore tax bands from Belarus. Significantly, the contraband had been precisely placed inside the suitcases in bags that were exactly the dimensions of the two pieces of luggage.

The 60-year-old, originally from Russia, during the inspection and arrest, did not say a word to Customs and was completely expressionless.

In his plea in court, he admitted the act he was accused of and said he wanted to transport and sell the cigarettes in France, as they are cheaper in Greece and it was not his final destination.

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