Smuggling of alcohol and cigarettes: punishment and article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, law

Smuggling, according to Russian legislation, is the movement through customs checkpoints on the borders of the Russian Federation of objects and goods that are prohibited for circulation, limited in circulation or requiring a certain procedure for customs inspection and declaration, outside the border checkpoints or with concealment from control (non-declaration, distortion of information in declarations, using fake documents, etc.).

In practice, most often the objects of crime are manuscripts, books, cash, jewelry, narcotic and psychotropic substances.

Definition of smuggling as a criminal offense

The term “smuggling” came to Russia from the Italian language, and is a combination of two words: contra and bando, which can be translated as contrary to government decree. In a broad interpretation, smuggling is the unauthorized movement of goods across the state border, bypassing customs control.
If we talk about the most common methods of importing contraband products, we can highlight the following:

moving the object of a crime in hiding places, hiding among consignments of legally imported goods;
false declaration of products or lack of declaration;
falsification of customs documentation.

In general, almost any real estate can act as smuggled goods: food products, precious metals, narcotic substances and medicines, weapons, cash, antiques. A separate line includes items of intellectual property, for example, manuscripts or inventions.

Characteristics of crimes related to cigarette and alcohol smuggling

Let us consider the signs of crimes associated with the illegal movement of tobacco products and alcohol across the border.
It should be noted here that not only the importation, but also the exportation of goods outside the country is considered smuggling. Many concepts of such atrocities are interpreted by the provisions of customs legislation, so liability measures can be attributed to blanket norms. Download for viewing and printing: Article 200.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of June 13, 1996 N 63-FZ (as amended on February 19, 2018)

Signs

The legal description of the crime is as follows:

the object of crimes becomes legal relations in the economic sphere, which is expressed in the form of lost profits coming to the treasury from customs duties and taxes;
the objective party recognizes the unauthorized movement of contraband products bypassing customs control;
the subject is defined as capable citizens over 16 years of age;
the subjective side is characterized by deliberate actions aimed at the import/export of goods in any illegal way.

If we talk about the elements of the crime in question, it is formal: the crime is considered to have been committed at the time of the commission of the unlawful act. In our case: the movement of tobacco or alcohol products across the border in an amount recognized as large.

Important! For such crimes, a special subject is also possible, if we are talking about a person vested with official powers and who committed an atrocity using his official position.

Subtleties of smuggling investigation

There are two possible scenarios here:

A smuggler is caught red-handed or a certain citizen is suspected of illegal import/export of alcohol and tobacco products.
The owner of the illegal cargo has not been identified.

In the first case, the initial stage of investigative actions involves conducting a search to find other hiding places. Found objects of the offense are recorded. After this, the detainee is interrogated, where the following points are clarified:

the identity of the smuggler;
ownership of illegal goods: often those detained are only carriers;
cargo receiver;
who helped equip the hiding places: preliminary conspiracy becomes an aggravating circumstance;
interaction with customs officers who must allow smuggled cargo through.

Based on the information received, searches are carried out and all persons identified as a result of interrogation are detained. Detected contraband is subject to forensic and commodity examination. This is necessary to detect fingerprints and determine the value of the goods.

If the owner of the contraband goods is not identified, the order of investigative actions changes. In particular, a survey of persons capable of identifying the criminal is conducted. For example, train crews, ship and aircraft crew members. The persons listed may be involved in the commission of a crime, or talk about the unusual behavior of one of the passengers.

In some cases, the fact of discovery of contraband is not advertised, and the hiding place is not unmasked. This applies to situations:

it is necessary to establish the entire chain, including the recipient and methods of selling the goods;
we are talking about transit cargo, and Russian law enforcement agencies are cooperating with colleagues from other states;
there is a suspicion that customs or border guards are involved in smuggling.

Regardless of the circumstances, a criminal case is initiated upon the discovery of smuggled cargo if there are sufficient grounds for this.

Responsibility for smuggling of alcohol and tobacco products

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Criminal punishment under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Within the framework of the Criminal Code of Russia, article 200.2 is devoted to the smuggling of tobacco and alcohol products. Let's consider what types of punishments can be applied to citizens convicted of such atrocities.

Illegal movement of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products across the border of the Customs Union, if the value of the object of the crime is determined to be large.
a fine in the amount of earnings or other income for a period from 12 months to 3 years;
forced labor - up to 5 years;
imprisonment - up to 5 years.
The accused are officials who committed a crime using official powers, a group of persons who entered into a preliminary conspiracy.
fine - may be imposed along with imprisonment in the amount of up to 1,000,000 rubles.
The atrocities covered by parts 1 and 2 of this article, committed as part of an organized group.
fine - may be imposed along with imprisonment in the amount of up to 2,000,000 rubles;
restriction of freedom of movement - up to 24 months.

Important! Within the framework of this article, large-scale smuggling is considered to be a consignment of goods worth more than 250,000 rubles.

Composition and responsibility

The purpose of this article is to determine the characteristics of the crimes, and, consequently, to consider the prescribed punishment for the illegal import or transportation of alcohol and cigarette products and money.

Cash

The first act to be examined is the smuggling of funds, responsibility for which is established taking into account the provisions of Article 200.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely:

Illegal movement across the customs border of the Customs Union within the EurAsEC of cash and (or) monetary instruments, committed in a large amount, is punishable by a fine in the amount of three to ten times the amount of illegally moved cash and (or) the value of illegally moved monetary instruments or the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, or restriction of freedom for a period of up to two years, or forced labor for a period of up to two years.
The act provided for in part one of this article, committed:
on a particularly large scale;
by a group of persons -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of ten to fifteen times the amount of illegally moved cash and (or) the value of illegally moved monetary instruments, or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three years, or by restriction of freedom for a term of up to four years, or by forced labor. for a period of up to four years.

So, as can be seen from the provisions of Part 1 of Article 200.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the subject of the crime is either cash or monetary instruments. The latter refers to bills of exchange, bank checks, and documentary form of securities. You should understand the difference between two similar acts:

not declaring
illegal import/export of cash or monetary instruments.

Today, according to current legislation, an individual can transfer across the border of the Russian Federation, without declaring, cash in an amount equal to or not exceeding the equivalent of 10,000 US dollars, taking into account the exchange rate on the day of transportation. Any amount over $10,000 is subject to mandatory written declaration, taking into account all created rights and obligations. Consequently, if an individual violates these norms, but the act does not contain any signs of smuggling, then it will be qualified taking into account the provisions of Article 16.4 of the Administrative Code, which provides for a fine of ½ to twice the undeclared amount.

Another key feature of the crime in question is the size/amount of finances recognized as smuggling on a large or especially large scale. The legislator provided clarification regarding how the amount of illegal cash should be determined and qualified, namely:

a large amount is an amount that is twice the established maximum of 10,000 US dollars;
especially large - an amount that exceeds at least five times.

It is worth noting that these criteria automatically exclude and, therefore, do not take into account the amount allowed for transportation without declaration, as well as funds that have undergone mandatory declaration.

For example, citizen “A” tried to carry 100,000 US dollars in his sports bag. Of this amount, they declared only $50,000. Taking into account the above, $50,000 plays a major role in the crime, without summing up the declared amount with a maximum amount of $10,000.

Punishment under Article 200.1 does not imply imprisonment, and the maximum sanction is forced labor for up to 4 years.

Alcohol and liquor

Smuggling of alcohol and tobacco products is a more serious crime than the act discussed above, since the import or export of these products in any case will result in some form of sales, which can lead to human casualties due to its actual illegality, and, therefore, not proven quality and lack of certification in the Russian Federation. The elements of the crime and the prescribed punishment are prescribed in Article 200.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

Illegal movement across the customs border of the Customs Union of alcoholic beverages and (or) tobacco products in large quantities is punishable by a fine in the amount of three hundred thousand to one million rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to three years, or by forced labor. for a term of up to five years, or imprisonment for the same term.

In fact, the elements of the crime are similar to those described above, it includes any deliberate actions to conceal and illegally import/export alcoholic or alcoholic products. As in Article 200.1, an integral element of the crime is a large amount, which is converted into cash and, according to the legislator’s note, amounts to 250,000 rubles.

The same act committed:
by a group of persons by prior conspiracy;
by an official using his official position, –
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to seven years with or without a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three years.
Acts provided for in parts one or two of this article, committed by an organized group:
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of seven to twelve years with or without a fine in the amount of up to two million rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to five years and with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.

Part two has two qualifying features in the form of a group violation of current legislation and abuse of official position. Particular attention should be paid to paragraph “b”, since there is a special subject there, that is, a person whose official responsibilities include ensuring compliance with customs legislation by implementing and applying all available control tools and identifying violators.

All available qualifying features may be part of one crime, since it is quite difficult to assume that a customs control officer will commit such a serious violation of the current legislation without some kind of motivational component, which can be offered either by a group of people or an organized group. Of course, the punishment is more severe than in Article 200.1, and can be up to imprisonment for 12 years with a fine of up to 2 million rubles and restriction of freedom for 2 years.

Legal practice

The court of the city of Kingisepp considered the case of citizen Ulyukaev (surname changed), who worked as a carrier in a transport company.
During a flight to Estonia, during a customs inspection, undeclared packs of cigarettes, totaling 7,200 pieces, were discovered hidden under the upholstery of a semi-trailer of a car driven by Ulyukaev. The market value of products transported through customs control amounted to 307,400 rubles. Having considered the circumstances of the case, the court sentenced Ulyukaev to a fine in the amount of wages for a 12-month period totaling 180,756 rubles.

Judicial practice: sentences and punishment under Art. 200.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

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