Combined operation by the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard

• This is the largest seizure of tobacco snuff carried out to date in Spain
• The operation ended with the arrest of the 11 people who formed the organized network
• Operation 'Picado' is part of the actions that the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard have been carrying out against tobacco smuggling

November 27, 2015.- A joint investigation by the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, within the framework of the so-called 'Picado' operation, has led to the dismantling of the storage and distribution infrastructure of a tobacco smuggling organization, leading to the arrest of eleven people and the seizure of 41,500 kilograms of tobacco products, in what is the largest seizure of rolling tobacco carried out to date in Spain.

The investigations, carried out in a coordinated manner by the Customs Surveillance Unit of the Tax Agency in Granada and the Judicial Police Unit of the Civil Guard in Baeza (Jaén), were initiated after learning, through the Association of Tobacconists of Jaén, of the illegal circulation and sale of bags of tubed cigarettes marketed without complying with the mandatory health and tax requirements.

The researchers found that, indeed, sales of tobacco products in tobacconists had suffered a sharp decline in the province of Jaén, and especially in towns such as Jódar, Linares and Bedmar.

After bringing the facts to the attention of the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 3 of Úbeda (Jaén), criminal proceedings were opened and the investigation continued, leading to a website with a server in Bangladesh and domain of a Spanish company, through which sales of tobacco suitable for smoking were made.

 

Hidden manufacturing activity

The company pretended to be a mere wholesale marketer of unpackaged tobacco leaves, thereby evading the control of the competent health, tax and regulatory authorities of the tobacco market, which would have intervened in its activity if the sales were intended for consumption of the leaves as tobacco products.

However, investigators found that in a short period of time, this company significantly increased both its purchases from national producers and its imports of unmanufactured tobacco products from various countries, such as Bangladesh and Poland. At the same time, imports from the US of machinery related to tobacco cutting increased, a situation that made no sense for a company whose sole purpose was to sell unprocessed tobacco.

 

Warehouses in Madrid

Following numerous surveillance and follow-ups of suspicious targets, investigators from the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard detected, in relation to this company, two warehouses in Fuenlabrada and Leganés (Madrid) where tobacco manufacturing work was being carried out to convert it into a product suitable for smoking.

This fraudulent conversion of tobacco leaves into a product that, without the need for sophisticated industrial manipulation, is transformed into tobacco suitable for consumption, was carried out in violation of the legal and health requirements established by law, thereby incurring the organization in alleged crimes of Smuggling, against Public Health and against the Public Treasury.
The merchandise was subsequently distributed, either through other members of the organization in the towns in Jaén where the operations began, or via the Internet through deliveries made by courier companies. In the case of local distribution, a final transformation was carried out which involved converting it into cigarettes or already packaged smoking tobacco.

 

Tobacco valued at more than 6.6 million euros

Following the appropriate checks, industrial warehouses in Madrid were searched on the 19th, resulting in the seizure of 41,500 kilos of manufactured tobacco suitable for smoking, ready for sale and distribution, valued at 6,640,000 euros. The seizure, the largest of roll-your-own tobacco ever carried out in Spain, is equivalent to approximately more than four million packets of cigarettes.

Eleven people were subsequently arrested, including the owners of the business and people engaged in the retail sale of this type of tobacco in the provinces of Jaén and Madrid. In turn, two vans and two vehicles belonging to the organisation were seized during searches of the warehouses in Madrid.

Both the detainees and the seized goods have been placed at the disposal of the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 3 of Úbeda (Jaén). The investigation is still ongoing, so new arrests cannot be ruled out in the coming days.

This operation was carried out within the framework of collaboration that the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard have maintained for the suppression of tobacco smuggling and in the fight against fraud in electronic commerce.