Operation of the Tax Agency, Civil Guard and National Police

• More than 43 tons of cut and leaf tobacco, 1,443,000 packs and various machinery arranged to carry out the complete manufacturing and packaging process have been seized, with up to 14 different brands of counterfeit tobacco having been recorded.

• All of these dismantled infrastructures in the provinces of Madrid, Murcia and Alicante belonged to a criminal organization of Bulgarian origin, which is considered dismantled in Spain after the arrest of 38 of its members.

• The organization supplied both the national and international markets, for which it also had several warehouses to store raw materials and large tonnage trailers loaded with the final product and parked in truck parking lots.

October 14, 2020 .- The Tax Agency, National Police and Civil Guard have dismantled three illegal tobacco factories located in the provinces of Murcia, Alicante and Madrid that, together, had a production capacity of about 18,000 cigarettes per minute. With this action, there are now 23 illegal cigarette factories deactivated to date in Spain.

Within the framework of the operation, called 'Sentinela-Tervel', 38 people have been arrested, which means that the structure in Spain of a highly specialized organization with great logistical capacity that, under the direction of Bulgarian citizens, supplied the national and international black market with up to 14 different counterfeit brands.

There has also been the seizure of 43,160 kilos of tobacco tobacco and 1,443,000 packs, all with an estimated value of more than nine million euros, as well as the seizure of six vehicles, a tractor unit, two trucks. trailer and various machinery arranged to carry out the complete manufacturing and packaging process.

The previous work of the investigators, carried out for months, had revealed the existence of a series of clandestine facilities linked to a criminal organization made up mainly of Bulgarian and Ukrainian citizens, with several of them having a history of similar events.

Along with the three factories, several 'security' warehouses have also been detected for the storage of merchandise and machinery until their transfer to the production chains. A stable road transport structure has also been dismantled, both for raw materials to supply the factories, and for cigarette packs for distribution in the smuggling market. To do this, the organization used heavy trucks.

Given the high number of counterfeit cigarette brands, it is suspected that the organization manufactured on demand, producing both consumer brands in the national market, such as 'Fortuna', 'Winston', 'L&M' or 'Chesterfield', as well as other brands. consumption in markets of other EU countries.

Simultaneous decommissioning

The exploitation phase of the operation was carried out simultaneously in the different manufacturing and storage centers at the end of last September 25, when the organization was about to start production in the third of its factories, the one located in Albatera (Alicante). ).

In this industrial warehouse, two cigarette production lines were arranged, completely installed for immediate operation, to the point that the workers were already in the factory, with all the necessary elements to begin the illicit production of cigarettes and all the installed machinery.

In the Albatera warehouse, 11 people of Bulgarian (5), Ukrainian (5) and Russian (1) nationality were arrested, and the machinery, cardboard for packaging cigarettes of different brands, and different materials necessary for packaging, as well as 12,960 kilos of tobacco leaf and cut, as well as several vehicles.

The other two factories were fully operational and had a double production line. In the one located in the town of Blanca (Murcia), 14 people were arrested (8 Bulgarian citizens and 6 Ukrainians) and 41,840 packs of cigarettes of multiple brands, 1,800 kilos of chopped tobacco leaves and various packaging materials were seized. manufacturing and machinery.

At the same time, in the factory located in Villanueva de Perales (Madrid), another 12 people were arrested (4 of Bulgarian nationality and 8 of Ukrainian nationality) and 462,533 packs of already manufactured cigarettes, 4,900 kilos of chopped tobacco leaves were seized. and the corresponding manufacturing material and machinery. Among these detainees, the leaders of the criminal organization in Spain stand out, with provisional detention having been decreed for its three top perpetrators.

'Security' warehouses and warehouse trucks

A characteristic of this organization was its caution and ability to react to any eventuality from a logistical point of view. On the one hand, they had various warehouses that researchers call 'safety', given that their role was to store the materials and raw materials until the moment when they needed to be transferred to the production chain in the factories.

During the exploitation of the operation, three warehouses of these characteristics have been registered, in the towns of Illescas (Toledo) and Alcalá de Henares (Madrid). In Illescas, the person controlling one of the ships, a Bulgarian citizen, was arrested and abundant manufacturing material was seized, 4,800 kilos of tobacco leaves ('strips'), four vehicles and a trailer truck. In the Alcalá de Henares warehouse, 439,290 packs of different brands were seized.

But, in addition to these warehouses, the organization also used trailers for the storage of cigarettes and materials, trailers that they maintained in public parking lots intended for the parking of trucks in general. In one of these parking lots, located in the town of Móstoles (Madrid), 500,000 packs and 18,700 kilos of chopped tobacco leaves that were hidden in two trailers have been seized.

With the dismantling of the structure in Spain of this organization and its illegal factories, significant economic damage to the Public Treasury is avoided and also the unfair competition that illicit activity causes to legally established operators, as well as health damage to consumers. given the lack of control to which illegally produced cigarettes are subject.

The investigations, initiated under the protection of the Elche Prosecutor's Office, are currently being investigated in the Investigative Courts of Orihuela (Alicante), Cieza (Murcia), Navalcarnero (Madrid) and Illescas (Toledo).

The Subdirectorate of Customs Surveillance Operations (VA) of the Tax Agency and the regional areas of VA have participated in the investigation phase and subsequent operational exploitation. from Barcelona, Alicante, Murcia, Toledo and Madrid; the UDEV of the National Police and the UCO of the Civil Guard.