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An organisation engaged in the clandestine manufacture of packets of tobacco has been disbanded as part of Operation "Straperlo"

Operation STRAPERLO

  • Joint investigation by the AEAT, Civil Guard and National Police.
  • Tobacco production and storage facilities registered in the towns of Coles (Ourense), Ponteareas (Pontevedra) and Valladolid

August 22, 2020 .- Operation "Straperlo", carried out jointly by the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of the Tax Agency in Ourense, the Organic Unit of Judicial Police of the Command of the Civil Guard of Ourense and GRECO Galicia of the National Police, has allowed the dismantling of a criminal organization made up mostly of people from Eastern Europe and specialized in the clandestine manufacture of cigarettes. 25 people from Romania (2), Ukraine (19), Moldova (3) and Portugal (1) have been arrested as alleged perpetrators of crimes of smuggling, membership of a criminal organization, against public health and intellectual property.

Investigations began in early 2020 with the knowledge that Romanian and Portuguese nationals had rented large warehouses in order to establish a stable structure for the illegal manufacture of tobacco products in large quantities without fiscal or health control.

The organisation was already in the production phase, after the completion of the entire cigarette manufacturing facility in June of this year. The factory's commissioning process involved the procurement of materials (cement blocks, insulation and soundproofing material, propane gas), machinery (forklifts and hydraulic jacks for handling heavy goods), ventilation and odour extraction equipment and the machinery used to manufacture cigarettes, all of Romanian origin.

The raw material, rolling tobacco, was brought from different countries by land and the cigarettes destined for the black market were manufactured in the facilities that were seized.

Once the necessary evidence was gathered in the early hours of August 20 of this year, a large operation made up of more than 80 agents culminated in the arrest of 25 people and several searches in buildings and warehouses, highlighting those carried out in:

  • Warehouse located in LG Cambeo - Coles - Ourense. The main facilities for manufacturing cigarette packs are located in this building. 21 people have been arrested, most of them Ukrainian and Moldovan nationals. Along with the manufacturing machinery, raw materials and cigarette packs of the MARLBORO brand were seized.
  • Industrial warehouse and annexes located in Lg A Porteliña - Oliveira - Ponteareas - Pontevedra, where a very significant amount of raw material has been seized.
  • Private homes in Ourense and Pontevedra, where leaders of the organization of Romanian and Portuguese nationality have been arrested and three vehicles seized
  • Warehouse in Valladolid, located on Avenida de Madrid, where different materials are stored, such as filters, etc.

The seized goods amount to around 150 tonnes of tobacco leaves and cut tobacco and 250,000 MARLBORO cigarettes, with an approximate value of around 21 million euros.

The material resources seized:

  • 2 tractor heads (trucks)
  • 2 trailers
  • 5 vehicles
  • Tobacco manufacturing machinery (two manufacturing lines)

The cigarette packets will likely end up in various countries within the European Union, marketed under the MARLBORO brand.

This operation has dealt a severe blow to one of the most important criminal organisations operating in Spanish territory, and has succeeded in dismantling a significant infrastructure for the illegal production, processing and distribution of tobacco.

Filming of the operation (to download the images, enter the following web address):

https://we.tl/t-nIzYO2UY3Q