Estonian court convicts man over large-scale illegal cigarette trade

On Monday, 24 August, Harju County Court, in settlement proceedings, found Konstantin Letko guilty of illegally trading a large batch of cigarettes lacking Estonian excise stamps between 2025 and 2026. The court sentenced him to two years and seven months in prison, of which three months were to be served in actual custody, with the remainder suspended.

According to the prosecutor's office, Letko, who pleaded guilty to large-scale illegal cigarette trafficking, has already served his real prison term. The remaining two years and four months were suspended, with a probation period of the same length, during which Letko must remain under the supervision of the probation service.

Details of the charge

According to the indictment, from 20 October 2025 to 13 April 2026, Letko was involved in trafficking at least 4,719,500 cigarettes without Estonian excise stamps. The criminal activity included storage, warehousing and shipment of cigarettes carried out together with several other individuals. In April 2026, around 230,000 unmarked cigarettes were found in a container used by Letko. The indictment also states he took part in trafficking several large cigarette consignments that were moved through Estonia onward to Finland.

The crime caused the Estonian state financial damage of at least €985,017.35 in unpaid excise duty, of which Letko is required to compensate €182,523.35.

Prosecutor Maarja-Liisa Kõiv said crime knows no state borders and that complex schemes are used to create distance between offences and their perpetrators, adding that illegal trade in unmarked cigarettes harms a fair business environment and deprives the state of significant tax revenue. Letko has previously been convicted multiple times; most recently, in 2019, Harju County Court sentenced him to a combined term of more than six years in prison for various property crimes.