• A person arrested after being caught transporting tobacco in a vehicle that has been intercepted

• The value of the seized goods exceeds 150,000 euros

July 27, 2023.- Customs Surveillance Officials of the Tax Agency have seized almost 34,000 packs of contraband cigarettes on July 17 in the town of Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) and they have arrested the person who was transporting it.

The investigation began last May, when investigators learned that the individual being investigated could be engaging in tobacco smuggling. For this reason, a discreet surveillance and monitoring device was established over him for several weeks.

As a result of the surveillance work, Customs Surveillance officials managed to identify the vehicle used to transport the illicit goods and, thanks to their monitoring, they were able to locate the warehouse from which the seized tobacco came.

The discreet surveillance of the place made it possible to identify the driver of the vehicle at the time he entered a storage room located inside a garage where the tobacco was stored. These were cigarette packs without the seals that protect their legal trade and with the mandatory health warnings in English.

Once the tobacco was located, and after verifying that the value of the stash far exceeded the limit established by law to classify the crime of smuggling, the Customs Surveillance agents proceeded to arrest the person allegedly responsible for the events.

In addition, the investigators proceeded to seize the tobacco, both that found in the warehouse and that found inside the vehicle driven by the detainee, a resident of Jerez de la Frontera, who is accused of an alleged crime of smuggling.

The final tobacco count is 33,849 packs of cigarettes of various commercial brands.

Once the operation was completed, both the detainee and the confiscated tobacco were transferred to the Customs Surveillance offices in Jerez in order to formalize the report and carry out the pertinent procedural processing.

The actions, the vehicle, the effects and the gender involved have been made available to the investigative court acting as guard in Jerez de la Frontera.

This action is part of the control plan established by the Tax Agency in the fight against smuggling.