• The goods were distributed in a total of 48 boxes of 50 cartons.
• The arrest was made in the Guadarranque River, after a chase of small smuggling inflatable boats

December 19, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officers from the Tax Agency in Algeciras have seized 24,000 packets of tobacco in the Campo de Gibraltar area. The operation took place during the night of Tuesday into Wednesday, when officials spotted several small inflatable boats loading tobacco in the colony of Gibraltar.

The corresponding control device was immediately prepared with naval and land resources, for which a deployment of land personnel was carried out throughout the bay of Algeciras awaiting the materialization of the tobacco shipment, at the same time that several Customs Surveillance patrol boats went in search of the detected targets with the intention of intercepting them.

While the pursuit of some of these inflatable boats was taking place at sea, others proceeded to unload the contraband goods on land, for which they went up the stretch of the Guadarranque River, movements that were controlled at all times by the Customs Surveillance officers deployed in the area.

A group of these Customs agents proceeded to intervene in the river itself, but were unable to make any arrests because the smugglers fled under the cover of the rugged terrain and the prevailing darkness. However, they did manage to seize a total of 48 boxes of tobacco, equivalent to 24,000 packets of contraband tobacco, valued at more than 100,000 euros.

Both the seized goods and the actions carried out have been made available to the San Roque court on duty.

The investigation is still ongoing, so it is not ruled out that some arrests will be made in the coming days.