Poland seizes illegal cigarette factory

WARSAW, Poland, May 5 (UPI) -- Polish police said they arrested 13 people on suspicion they were running an illegal cigarette factory in southwestern Poland.

Sixty police and Customs officers Monday raided a building in the town of Kuznica Piaskowa, in the Silesia region, and confiscated 8.5 million cigarettes and 22 tons of shredded tobacco, Polish Radio said Tuesday.

Police said they believed it was the largest illegal cigarette producing plant ever uncovered in the country.

Four of the 13 arrested people were Ukrainian nationals, the radio said.

Karol Jakubowski of the Polish central police station said if the confiscated cigarettes and tobacco had reached the black market it would have cost the state budget about $4 million in lost tax revenue.