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💉 Smuggling from Hungary hidden under a mattress: in Zakarpattia a bus driver had a shipment of weight-loss injection pens seized worth over 2 million UAH
The Uzhhorod City District Court of Zakarpattia region issued a ruling in a case regarding large-scale movement of undeclared medical drugs. Intercity bus driver Kryshchyshyn Roman Volodymyrovych attempted to bring hundreds of injection pens into Ukraine by disguising them as ordinary cookies. 📦💊
The incident occurred on 21 September 2026 at the Tysa checkpoint of the Zakarpattia customs. A Plaxton bus traveling from Hungary to Ukraine entered the customs area through the red corridor. The driver, Ukrainian citizen Kryshchyshyn Roman Volodymyrovych (an employee of the Kyiv LLC Paulbus), declared only personal belongings and denied transporting any restricted goods.
However, during the customs inspection, officers found in the bus cabin — behind the driver's seat under a resting mattress — four thermal bags. Inside them, instead of sweets, were factory cookie boxes labeled “Soft Bakes Chocolate Chip,” which contained tightly packed Mounjaro KwikPen injection pens.
In total, the driver attempted to secretly move 360 injection pens of various dosages (from 5 mg to 15 mg).
Mounjaro (Mounjaro, active ingredient — tirzepatide) is an innovative and extremely popular injectable medication worldwide that was originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, but because of its ability to significantly reduce appetite and body weight it is now widely used for weight loss.
Under Ukrainian law, citizens may import medicines only in quantities not exceeding 5 packages of each name per person (or with a personal prescription). In his explanations, the driver said that an unknown person at the Budapest station handed him the bags for delivery to Uzhhorod and that he allegedly did not know the contents of the boxes. According to the submitted documents, the total value of the shipment was 39 710,30 euros (which at the exchange rate on the day of crossing the border amounted to 2 033 091,91 UAH).
The actions of Kryshchyshyn Roman Volodymyrovych were qualified under part 1 of article 483 of the Customs Code of Ukraine (movement of goods across the customs border with concealment from customs control, i.e., using methods that hinder their detection).
On 2 November 2026 the court in case No. 308/15043/26 found Kryshchyshyn R.V. guilty. Considering that the offender is a combatant, has not previously been held liable, and has a positive employment reference, the court applied a milder measure within the article's sanction and imposed a fine of 50 percent of the value of the goods, which amounted to 1 016 545,96 UAH. At the same time, since the drug was not transported in specially made concealments (hiding places), and the court took into account the principles of proportionality and the requirements of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, the batch of injection pens was ordered to be returned to the owner (or his representative) after completing the necessary customs formalities. Court fees were also collected from the offender.
This was reported by the Telegram channel “Sudom po skhemakh” citing case No. 308/15043/26.
💡 Advice from “Sudom po skhemakh”
• Limits on importing medicines are strict: According to Cabinet Resolution No. 458, bringing medicines in carry-on or checked baggage is allowed only in quantities not exceeding 5 packages of each name per person (or with an official prescription and a physician’s information note).
• “Package deliveries” from abroad are a risk zone: Agreements to deliver unknown bags from random people at train stations are a classic trap. Any cargo you transport across the border in a vehicle is your legal responsibility.
• Concealing goods is costly: Even if the court does not apply confiscation of property (for example, due to the absence of specially made hiding places), part 1 of article 483 of the Customs Code of Ukraine provides for huge fines — from 50% to 100% of the value of the discovered items.
Telegram publication
