Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• Six people arrested who were working in the illegal factory

• 11,400 kilos of bites and 7,360 packets intervened

• The factory contained a complete production line for cigarette manufacturing and packaging, as well as a large quantity of precursors, cut tobacco, and several thousand packs of tobacco ready for distribution.

May 26, 2023 .- Customs Surveillance officials of the Tax Agency and agents of the National Police have dismantled an illegal tobacco pack factory in Barcelona belonging to a criminal organization of Polish origin that produced fake tobacco to distribute in different European countries and have arrested six people for alleged crimes of tobacco smuggling and smuggling of prohibited goods, against Industrial Property, and against the Public Treasury.

The operation began at the beginning of May when it became known, by the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and the National Police, through international customs and police cooperation with the United Kingdom, of the possible establishment of an organization criminal in the town of Roda de Ter (Barcelona), which would have a facility transformed into a clandestine cigarette factory for marketing in various European countries.

During the subsequent investigation, the presence of various subjects entering and leaving the facility was confirmed, adopting multiple security measures, as well as carrying out checks to locate possible surveillance.

After carrying out the appropriate checks, it was possible to verify that the installation could be compatible with an illegal factory as it had sealed windows and perimeter closed-circuit cameras, so an entry device was created. In order to avoid the dismantling of the facility by the organization and allow the exploitation of the operation, entry was determined on May 11.

Complete production line

Once the ship was inspected, the existence of an illegal factory was found, in which six individuals of Ukrainian nationality worked, which contained a complete production line for manufacturing cigarettes and their packaging, as well as a large quantity of precursors, cut tobacco and several thousand packets of tobacco ready for distribution.

In total, 11,400 kilos of cut tobacco, 7,360 packs of tobacco, a cigarette machine, a filter assembly machine, a packaging machine, a package packaging machine with tape, a pack packaging machine and a carton packaging machine have been seized. . In addition, various precursors have been used for manufacturing, such as polypropylene reels, inner lining of cigarette packs and rolls of paper. The proceedings and the detainees have been placed at the disposal of the Vic guard court (Barcelona).