Dismantling of an organisation dedicated to the production of contraband tobacco, seizing 43 tons of loose tobacco

Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• This is the second largest arrest of tobacco bites in Spain to date.
• In the operation, five people have been arrested and the place where they produced contraband material from large quantities of tobacco leaves from countries such as Poland, Greece, Bangladesh and India has been dismantled.

 

June 21, 2016.- A joint investigation by the Tax Agency and the National Police has allowed the dismantling of an organization dedicated to the production of contraband tobacco. In the operation, the agents have arrested five people and seized 43,000 kilos of tobacco products, which represents the second largest seizure in Spain to date, after the 88,000 kilos seized in the provinces of Granada and Jaén in Last March.

The investigations began at the beginning of the year, after learning of the existence of a tobacco smuggling network whose members would be based in Córdoba.

After carrying out various investigations, it was determined that the modus operandi used by the investigated plot consisted of the introduction of large quantities of tobacco leaves, from other countries such as Poland, Greece, Bangladesh or India, which were stored in warehouses in industrial estates in Córdoba. . Next, these tobacco leaves were manipulated, prepared and packaged to be marketed through the internet throughout Spain.

As the investigation progressed, it was determined that the organization was using several warehouses at the Polígono de las Quemadas in the capital of Córdoba, where they were presumably storing significant quantities of tobacco leaves imported from other countries.

 

Manufacturing and storage warehouses dismantled

Upon the arrival at one of the investigated warehouses of a trailer-type truck, presumably loaded with tobacco leaves, it was decided to carry out a simultaneous inspection on the morning of June 15.

Once at the location, the agents detected in the first warehouse a huge number of boxes containing tobacco leaves (weighing approximately 100 kilos each), this being, therefore, the warehouse where the merchandise was received and stored before of its manipulation.

In it, 40 tons were seized, doubling the amount seized in October 2015 when 20,000 kilos were seized.

During the search of a second warehouse, the agents observed how several individuals were chopping tobacco leaves, which was one of the places where it was processed and packaged, prior to its distribution. About 2,000 kilos of chopped tobacco were seized at this location. In a third search, another 1,000 kilos were seized, in this case already manipulated and packaged.

This fraudulent conversion of tobacco leaves into a product ready for consumption, without the need for sophisticated industrial manipulation, was carried out in breach of the legal and health requirements established by law, thereby incurring crimes of smuggling, against public health and against the Public Treasury.

 

Arrest of those responsible for the network

After the searches, five people were located and arrested, two of them allegedly responsible for the investigated network and three others who were part of a second rank in the organization. The records also found different documentation related to the receipt of tobacco leaves and illicit distribution once handled.

The investigation, which remains open, has been carried out within the framework of collaboration that the Tax Agency and the National Police have been maintaining for the repression of tobacco smuggling and the fight against fraud. They have been carried out in a coordinated manner by the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of the Tax Agency in Córdoba and the UCRIF Operational Group II of the Córdoba Provincial Immigration and Border Brigade of the National Police.