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 seizure of tobacco snuff carried out in Spain to date.
• In the operation, five people were arrested and the place where they produced the contraband material from large quantities of tobacco leaves from countries such as Poland, Greece, Bangladesh or India was dismantled.

 

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

Investigations began at the beginning of the year, after learning of the existence of a tobacco smuggling network whose members were based in Córdoba.

After carrying out various investigations, it was possible to determine that the modus operandi used by the investigated network consisted of the introduction of large quantities of tobacco leaves, originating from other countries such as Poland, Greece, Bangladesh or India, which were stored in warehouses in industrial estates in Córdoba. These tobacco leaves were then manipulated, prepared and packaged to be sold over the Internet throughout Spain.

As the investigation progressed, it was determined that the organization was using several warehouses in 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 facilities dismantled

Following the arrival at one of the warehouses under investigation 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 there, the agents detected a huge number of boxes containing tobacco leaves (weighing approximately 100 kilos each) in the first warehouse, which was therefore the warehouse where the merchandise was received and stored before being handled.

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 distribution. Some 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 handled 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 violation 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

Following the searches, five people were located and arrested, two of them suspected leaders of the network under investigation and three others who were part of a second echelon in the organization. The searches also revealed various documents relating to the receipt of tobacco leaves and their illicit distribution once they had been manipulated.

The investigation, which is still ongoing, has been carried out within the framework of collaboration that the Tax Agency and the National Police have maintained for the suppression 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 Brigade of Foreigners and Borders of the National Police.