Operation 'Peirún'

• The collaboration of Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and French Customs has allowed the seizure of more than 1,400,000 packs of tobacco and 14.5 tons of tobacco
• Nine members of the organization have been arrested, which introduced the merchandise through Irún to warehouses in Catalonia and Navarra, where it was placed in boxes of car parts before being sent to its destination.

December 30, 2021 .- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in collaboration with French Customs, has dismantled an organization run by Spanish citizens that was dedicated to sending important shipments of smuggled tobacco to other European countries. The organization had several warehouses in Catalonia and Navarra where it placed tobacco in boxes of car parts for subsequent shipment to its destination.

As a result of the operation, called 'Peirún', nine members of the organization have been arrested, six of them of Spanish nationality, two Brazilians and one Portuguese, and more than 1,400,000 packs have been seized, with a value market estimated at more than six million euros, and 14.5 tons of tobacco, in what has been one of the largest seizures of the year in terms of contraband tobacco.

The joint actions begin with the intervention in France, at the end of last March, of a truck loaded with 14,500 kilos of crushed tobacco that was heading to Spain. The arrest carried out by the La Rochelle Brigade of French Customs begins a series of combined investigations for alleged crimes of smuggling and criminal organization in relation to an organization that used a transport company with Portuguese trucks to transport important shipments of tobacco smuggled between European countries. 

Cargo surveillance and intervention

As a result of the surveillance work carried out by Customs Surveillance officials of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Navarra, it was determined that the organization introduced merchandise into Spain through the Guipuzcoan town of Irún, and that it had different warehouses in Navarra and Catalonia where it stored the tobacco that was later sent to other European countries through the border of La Jonquera (Girona).

Already in June, Customs Surveillance officials in Girona detected one of the trucks passing through La Jonquera that had previously been seen in a guarded warehouse in El Vendrell (Tarragona). The alert was immediately given to the French Customs, whose Perpignan Brigade located the vehicle and, in the subsequent inspection, intervened 350,000 packs of 'Sixt' brand tobacco hidden inside boxes of car parts, arresting in turn the two drivers, of Brazilian nationality.

The investigations continue and at the end of last November the Customs Surveillance officials of Girona and the Basque Country monitored another truck that was headed to a warehouse in El Vendrell, observing, again, that the same type of merchandise was loaded in the warehouse, and they detect that the transport is once again destined for Italy, this time departing from the port of Barcelona. The officials intervene in the truck and discover 452,000 packs of 'Regina' brand tobacco, again hidden in boxes of car parts, which leads to the arrest of the driver, a Portuguese national.

Registration in Tarragona and latest arrests

At that moment, the El Vendrell ship was searched and the person responsible, a Spanish national, was arrested. Inside the ship, another 667,000 packs of tobacco of the latter brand and more boxes of car parts were found, which is why the person responsible for the ship, a Spanish national, was arrested.

On subsequent dates, several searches were carried out, two of them in Italy with the collaboration of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), one in Navarra and another in Barcelona, and the arrest of the other five members of the organization, all They are Spanish nationals.

Filming of operation (to download the video you must enter the following web address):

https://we.tl/t-5uxgNn7QHN