Hungarian customs officers found 141 thousand packs of cigarettes in the car of the wife of a Ukrainian diplomat

Hungarian customs officers found 141 thousand packs of cigarettes in the car of the wife of a Ukrainian diplomat

Hungarian customs officers detained a car driven by the wife of the First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary, Larysa Shmeleva.

Hungarian customs officers found several hundred boxes of cigarettes in a minibus in which the wife of a Ukrainian diplomat, Larysa Shmeleva, was traveling to Hungary through the Zahony-Chop checkpoint. More than 140 thousand packs of cigarettes were found in a car with diplomatic markings. The driver was detained and faces 8 years in prison.

According to information from deputy of the Uzhgorod City Council Vitaliy Glagoly, Hungarian customs officers detained a car in which the wife of the first secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary, Larysa Shmeleva and the driver was Maryan Krushelnitskyi.

As the Hungarian tax and customs administration said on February 23, despite the fact that the minibus from Ukraine had diplomatic markings, customs officers still sent it to the cargo room for inspection.

“The driver of the car and his companion, whose husband is a diplomat, argued that they were not transporting goods subject to declaration. The door was sealed with a paper tag with a Ukrainian seal certifying diplomatic immunity. When our employees said that they were going to check the bus, the driver and his passenger did not agree, locked themselves in the vehicle and began making phone calls. Taking advantage of the moment, one of the tax officers managed to open the car door through the window,” inform Hungarian customs officials.