Operation 'Peirun'

• The collaboration between the Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and the French Customs has allowed the seizure of more than 1,400,000 packets of tobacco and 14.5 tons of snuff
• Nine members of the organisation have been arrested. They introduced the merchandise through Irún to warehouses in Catalonia and Navarre, where it was placed in boxes of car parts before being sent to its destination.

December 30, 2021 .- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in collaboration with the French Customs, has dismantled an organization run by Spanish citizens that was dedicated to sending large shipments of contraband tobacco to other European countries. The organisation had several warehouses in Catalonia and Navarre where it placed the tobacco in boxes of car parts for subsequent shipment to its destination.

As a result of the operation, called 'Peirún', nine members of the organisation have been arrested, six of them of Spanish nationality, two Brazilians and one Portuguese, and more than 1,400,000 packets have been seized, with an estimated market value of more than six million euros, and 14.5 tonnes of tobacco, in what has been one of the largest seizures of the year in terms of contraband tobacco.

The joint actions began with the intervention in France, at the end of March, of a truck loaded with 14,500 kilos of chopped tobacco that was heading to Spain. The seizure by the La Rochelle Brigade of French Customs kicks off a series of combined investigations into alleged smuggling and organised crime in relation to an organisation that used a Portuguese trucking company to transport large shipments of contraband tobacco between European countries. 

Cargo surveillance and intervention

As a result of surveillance work carried out by Customs Surveillance officials from Catalonia, the Basque Country and Navarre, it was possible to determine that the organisation introduced merchandise into Spain through the Guipuzcoan town of Irún, and that it had different warehouses in Navarre and Catalonia where it stored the tobacco that it subsequently sent to other European countries via the border of La Jonquera (Girona).

Already in June, Customs Surveillance officials in Girona detected one of the trucks passing through La Jonquera that had previously been seen in a warehouse under surveillance in El Vendrell (Tarragona). The French Customs Department was immediately alerted, and its Perpignan Brigade located the vehicle and, during the subsequent inspection, seized 350,000 packets of Sixt brand cigarettes hidden inside car parts boxes, arresting the two drivers, of Brazilian nationality.

Investigations are continuing and at the end of last November, Customs Surveillance officials from Girona and the Basque Country are monitoring another truck that was heading to a warehouse in El Vendrell, observing, again, that the warehouse was loading the same type of merchandise, and detecting that the transport was again destined for Italy, this time departing from the port of Barcelona. The officers seized the truck and discovered 452,000 packets of 'Regina' brand cigarettes, again hidden in car parts boxes, which led to the arrest of the driver, a Portuguese national.

Registration in Tarragona and latest arrests

At that time, the El Vendrell warehouse was searched and the person responsible, a Spanish national, was arrested. Another 667,000 packs of cigarettes of the latter brand and more boxes of car parts were found inside the warehouse, which is why the person responsible for the warehouse, a Spanish national, was arrested.

Several searches were carried out later, two of them in Italy with the collaboration of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), one in Navarra and another in Barcelona, and the other five members of the organisation were arrested, all of them of Spanish nationality.

Operation filming (to download the video, enter the following web address):

https://we.tl/t-5uxgNn7QHN