• This is the largest seizure of illegal tobacco since March 2010.
• The Customs Surveillance operation led to the intervention of two containers with contraband tobacco from the USA and the arrest of three people
• The criminal organization had impersonated a regular importer to avoid customs controls.

The Tax Agency seized two containers in an industrial warehouse in Manresa (Barcelona) containing one million packets of contraband cigarettes last night, which is the largest operation of its kind carried out by the Agency since March 2010. The seized tobacco could have been worth more than 3,500,000 euros on the market. The operation resulted in the arrest of three people.
The operation began with the arrival at the Port of Barcelona of two containers from the United States. The criminal organisation had impersonated a regular importer and declared the goods as rolls of plastic.
The Tax Agency, which had already begun preliminary investigations into this organisation, decided to proceed with the controlled monitoring of the merchandise, which was transported in two trucks to the industrial estate.
At the time of unloading, Customs Surveillance officials proceeded to arrest three members of the smuggling organization who were waiting to receive the tobacco. Two of those arrested are of Spanish nationality and a third is of Romanian origin.
Following a visual inspection of the contents of the containers (2,000 boxes of tobacco, containing one million packets), Customs Surveillance officers were able to verify that they were transporting “305'S” brand tobacco that had not passed the corresponding tax and customs controls, as it lacked the regulatory seals for its sale in Spanish territory.

The operation carried out in the early hours of this morning has resulted in the largest seizure of contraband tobacco since March 2010, when Customs officials, in collaboration with the European anti-fraud office, OLAF, seized more than 2.4 million packets in the Canary Islands with an estimated market value of 8.6 million euros.

These actions are part of the fight against fraud carried out by the Tax Agency in its work to secure the supply chain and prevent tax and customs fraud.