Operation 'Turia', a combined operation of the Tax Agency and the Guardia Civil

• The shipment was hidden inside a container from Bangkok, Thailand, which, according to the documentation provided, was to transport tobacco, and was destined for a company in Manises.
• The smugglers were caught in an industrial estate in Villamarchante, Valencia, at the time of unloading the container, when they were trying to transfer the tobacco to a large-tonnage truck registered in Estonia and two other rental vehicles.
• Nine people were arrested during the operation, one Spanish and eight others from Eastern European countries.

August 1, 2017.- Customs Surveillance officers from the Valencia Tax Agency and agents from the Territorial Team of Judicial Police of the Civil Guard of Ribarroja del Turia, intervened on July 19 in Villamarchante, Valencia, a total of 449,980 packets of contraband tobacco that were hidden in a container from Bangkok (Thailand) that, according to what was declared in the documentation presented to Customs, was to transport footwear.

The operations of the so-called 'Turia' operation began when the General Subdirectorate of Customs Surveillance Operations of the Tax Agency alerted its Regional Area of Valencia about the possible arrival of a large shipment of contraband tobacco in one of the containers that the ship 'Basle Express' of the 'Camar' shipping company was going to unload in the Port of Valencia and coming from Thailand.

After the arrival of the ship was confirmed on the 16th, and unloading began at the dock, the suspicious container was located and its control was immediately ordered through the Customs Risk Analysis Unit. The criminal organisation responsible for this crime submitted a request to Customs for the import of this container, declaring shoes and setting a company in Manises (Valencia) as the destination.

Container tracking

The container was transported to its destination under the discreet surveillance of Customs Surveillance and Civil Guard officials, finally arriving, not at its declared destination in Manises, but at a warehouse in the industrial estate of a nearby town, Villamarchante, where nine individuals were surprised in the middle of unloading the container when they were transferring the load to a large-tonnage truck with an Estonian license plate and two other vehicles that the organization had rented for the occasion.

At the unloading site, the existence of a small quantity of shoe boxes was confirmed, placed at the front of the container, behind the doors, and hidden behind the boxes was the rest of the cargo, made up of other types of boxes, 900 in total, inside which the contraband tobacco was discovered, totalling 449,980 packs.

At that time, a total of nine people were arrested, one of them Spanish and directly related to the importing company, and another eight from Eastern European countries.

Possible forgery

The tobacco, apparently of the 'American Legend' brand, is manufactured in the European Union, but the origin of the seized packets is Thailand, so it cannot be ruled out that it is a counterfeit, and a report will be requested from the competent authorities to determine whether they are falsified or authentic.

The 449,980 packets of cigarettes seized have a market value of around 1.8 million euros, and the corresponding taxes are well over 1.5 million euros.

This is the second large-scale seizure of cigarette packets this year when they were being illegally introduced in containers by sea through the Port of Valencia. The first was made on May 3, when a shipment of 300,000 packs of Dunston brand cigarettes was intercepted, the tax fraud of which would have reached 1.2 million euros.

The detainees were brought before the court on the morning of July 21 and by resolution of the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 6 of Lliria they were released on bail. The vehicles seized, the truck with Estonian registration plates and two cars, as well as 24,700 euros in cash seized from the suspects at the time of their arrest, have also been placed at the disposal of the judicial body.