• Dismantled a criminal organization that counterfeited cigarettes from the main tobacco brands and distributed them throughout the national territory

• More than a million tax seals in Spain, the US and Serbia have been intervened

• The tobacco seized from this criminal organization, once distributed, would have made it a profit of more than one and a half million euros.

June 22, 2024.- Officials of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and agents of the Civil Guard, within the framework of the operation 'Llanos de la Perdiz' have dismantled a criminal organization that owned an illegal factory in the Juncaril industrial estate, in the municipality of Peligros (Granada), in which they counterfeited tobacco products from the main brands.

In this operation, three people have been arrested, and two others have been investigated, for the alleged crimes of criminal organization, smuggling, against industrial property, forgery in stamped bills, forgery in a private document, usurpation of civil status and money laundering. of capitals.

During the exploitation phase, 400 kilos of tobacco leaves and 1,000 kilos of cut tobacco, tens of thousands of counterfeit cartons of the main brands, 18 industrial machines for the production and packaging of cigarettes and a high number of seals were seized. falsified tax returns from different countries, including 1,078,000 Americans, 25,800 from the Republic of Serbia and 20,000 from Spain. Various documentation and 31,000 euros of cash have also been seized.

The investigation has revealed the skill of the criminal organization in counterfeiting cigarettes, which were distributed throughout the national territory. It is estimated that once distributed, they would have obtained a profit of more than one and a half million euros.

Some 14 companies in the tobacco sector have been affected by these events. The investigators have contacted these companies to inform them of the operation so that they can appear in the judicial process.

The operation began to take place in August 2023, after Civil Guard investigators learned of the possible existence in an industrial estate in the Metropolitan Area of ​​a factory where tobacco products were falsified, subsequently coordinating with Customs Surveillance.

Parcel shipments in the name of fictitious companies

After many investigations, the factory was located in an industrial warehouse in the Juncaril de Peligros industrial estate and the responsibility of all those who made up this criminal organization was identified and defined, including the person responsible.

Once the latter was identified, the investigators found out that this person was in charge of distributing counterfeit tobacco throughout Spain through a parcel company; that the shipments were made in the name of three fictitious companies and that during the last year he had sent more than 2,300 packages with more than 6,700 kilos of counterfeit tobacco products.

Agents from the Combined Customs Surveillance Unit of the Granada Tax Agency and the Fiscal and Border Detachment of the Santa Fe Civil Guard have participated in this operation.