After the snus factory raid: the owner convicted

It was in August 2018 that the Swedish Environmental Crimes Agency carried out a coordinated effort in the Gothenburg area. One of the targets was reportedly an illegal snus factory in the Högsbo industrial zone.

There were suspicions that more was presented than was reported then and that the owner thus rounded up the Swedish Tax Agency regulations.

When prosecutors filed charges against the director and three other assistants, they estimated that it was an evasion of at least 2.9 million.

Write down the amount

The district court now doesn’t really share that analysis:

“The investigation in this part contains such deficiencies that it cannot be used as the basis for an assessment that it has manufactured and sold more snus than it has admitted, that is, just over 2,700 kilos,” the court writes.

Added to this are the 850 kilos that were stored in the room.

The total amount (3,550 kilos) corresponds to a tax evasion of 1.5 million.

The 36-year-old factory owner continues to be sentenced for a serious tax offense as well as an accounting offense, earning him one year and nine months plus a five-year business ban, something DN also reported on.

Three different companies

The man not only had production but also an internet sales company and another that ran a store in a neighboring municipality.

However, the focus in the case has been on the snus factory that the 36-year-old bought from an acquaintance in 2017. He then began making his own snus brands. However, he reported only a small part of the result to the authorities.

In this way, the state was affected by the special tax, which must otherwise be declared within five days.

Snus, under the man’s own brands, has been resold black to tobacconists in the Gothenburg and Stockholm area.

Dangerous chemicals

During the raid on the snus factory, deficiencies in the work environment and gross negligence with regard to food handling regulations were also discovered.

For example, dangerous chemicals were found in an open closet that, according to the National Forensic Center (NFC), had the potential to kill as many as 45,000 people. This part has been investigated separately by the environmental crimes unit of the Public Ministry.

Those who worked for the 36-year-old were paid SEK 50 an hour.

Daniel Larsson, the prosecutor in the case, urged the public in connection with the strike to be wary of cheap snus from unknown brands.

Benefit the shadow society

– It is a question of not fertilizing serious crimes and of enabling the so-called shadow society with foreign citizens who are exploited in undeclared risk jobs. It’s also about consumer health. In the investigation, we have photos of naked-bodied black workers without protective gloves packing snus in cans.

Daniel Larsson addressed:

– We have found records of the current snus brand for price ranges between 100 and 150 SEK. At such prices, it is difficult to sell legally without losses.

Each year, snus-related crimes help retain millions from the state.

Less risky

Magnus Råsten, as Commissioner of the Swedish Environmental Crimes Agency, has noticed the increase and previously commented on the phenomenon in GP:

– We have seen some change from drugs, weapons and violence against other criminal elements that are also lucrative but associated with significantly lower risks. Snus is not an illegal product in itself either. It is everywhere and therefore easy to hide.