Fresh blow to tobacco smugglers

• The Customs Surveillance investigation of the Tax Agency in the Basque Country has led to the arrest of 18 people from Latvia, Lithuania and Spain
• The searches carried out in various locations in Álava, Guipúzcoa, Navarra and Seville conclude with the seizure of 240,000 packs of tobacco of different counterfeit brands and more than 35 tons of raw tobacco ready for manufacturing
• The illegal factory, located in an industrial estate in Vitoria, had an area set up for operators, who remained hidden in the facility for long periods of time.
• After the detection of the warehouses in Madrid and Guadalajara last year, there are now two clandestine cigarette manufacturing complexes dismantled in Spain

 

September 18, 2014.- The Tax Agency has dismantled an illegal cigarette factory in an industrial estate in Vitoria (Álava) with the capacity to produce 1.5 million packs of tobacco per week. Within the framework of operation 'Unicorn', Customs Surveillance officials carried out searches last Tuesday in various towns in Álava, Guipúzcoa, Navarra and Seville that led to the arrest of 18 members of the criminal organization, including its top officials, as well as as well as the seizure of the machinery used for production and packaging, more than 240,000 packs of tobacco of different brands ready for sale in the contraband market and more than 35 tons of raw tobacco cut and prepared for clandestine manufacturing.

The organization, made up of citizens from Latvia, Lithuania and Spain, produced illegal tobacco with a technology significantly more advanced than that used by smuggling groups last year, when, within the framework of operation 'Cage', Customs Surveillance officials dismantled the first illegal cigarette factory that has been detected in Spain in Coslada (Madrid) and Guadalajara.

On this occasion, the potential production capacity of the Vitoria factory would be at least four times greater than that detected last year in Guadalajara, around one and a half million packs of fake tobacco per week.

 

Organized production

To carry out its criminal activity, the organization had an industrial warehouse near the city of Vitoria in which the cigarette factory was located and four other satellite warehouses, each of them with a specific mission.

Thus, a warehouse located in Guipúzcoa, near the border with France, was used to store the material from Latvia necessary for packaging cigarettes; In a second warehouse near the municipality of Legutiano (Álava), other types of materials were stored and in Lesaka (Navarra), in addition to various merchandise, the raw tobacco itself was kept ready for making cigarettes. Finally, a fourth warehouse near Seville was dedicated to the storage of tobacco produced in Vitoria.

The investigations carried out have made it possible to verify that the Vitoria factory was in a continuous production process, given the constant flow of goods that occurred between the main facility and the satellite ones.

 

Factory life

In the registry of the Vitoria factory, it was also possible to verify that the warehouse had rooms for feeding and overnight stays for the workers, who had everything necessary to avoid having to leave the facilities for long periods of time. At the time of the Customs Surveillance intervention, the factory was operating at full capacity and 11 workers of Latvian and Lithuanian nationality were working there.

 

Tax evasion

In a first inspection carried out, and in the absence of the corresponding expert opinions, it was estimated that the dismantled manufacturing line was capable of producing and packaging the equivalent of three containers of tobacco each week. Assuming this potential production capacity, the tax fraud avoided is estimated at 4.5 million euros per week.

After the searches carried out last Tuesday, together with the production machinery, various manufacturing and packaging materials, and a truck intended for transport, more than 240,000 packs of tobacco with the counterfeit brands 'Austin' and 'Goal' have been seized. already finished and filled with cigarettes, more than a million dismantled packs of 'Austin' and also 'American Legend', 'Ibiza' and 'Palermo', and more than 35 tons of raw tobacco ready for manufacturing.

As a result of the actions carried out, 18 people accused of smuggling and industrial property crimes have been arrested and brought to justice. Operation 'Unicorn' has had the participation of Customs Surveillance officials from the Basque Country, Navarra and Andalusia, and the collaboration of the central services of the Customs and Excise Department of the Tax Agency. This investigation has had the support of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).

 

More than 60 factories dismantled in the EU in a decade

Since 2004, more than 60 illegal factories have been dismantled throughout the European Union. The clandestine manufacture of cigarettes is a serious problem that affects the entire European Union and constitutes an important part of the illicit trade in these products, along with smuggling and counterfeit cigarettes from Asian countries that are illegally introduced in containers by sea. .

This illegal activity produces enormous economic damage in the countries where criminal organizations operate, not only due to the evasion of taxes on tobacco products and the negative impact it has on legal operators, but also due to the illegal economic activities that It involves illicit manufacturing, which involves money laundering and financing of new illegal activities within the underground economy.

Customs Supervision: Filing complaints for smuggling and related crimes

Toll-free telephone number 900351378. Email: va.adu@aeat.es