Rough blow for tobacco smuggling

• The responsible international organization was dismantled and twelve of its members were arrested, including Ukrainian and Belarusian workers who lived hidden in the warehouses without going outside.
• After the interventions carried out in the town of Lucena, several unknown individuals set fire to one of the warehouses to try to make the tobacco that was inside disappear.
• 45,500 packs, 4,200 kilos of tobacco and 10,320 kilos of tobacco leaves and machinery for making cigarettes have been seized, as well as a truck and a van, two high-end cars, mobile phones and documentation and various computer media.

January 4, 2021 .- Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and National Police, in a joint operation, have dismantled an international organization dedicated to tobacco smuggling that had set up an illegal manufacturing center of cigarettes with infrastructure in the Sevillian towns of Marchena, Écija and Bormujos, and in Lucena (Córdoba) with a potential production capacity of one million cigarettes per day.

During the operation, one of the warehouses suffered a fire caused by unknown persons, presumably in order to make the tobacco that was inside disappear. Twelve people, of Spanish, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalities, have been arrested, and 45,500 packs, 4,200 kilos of tobacco and 10,320 kilos of tobacco leaves have been seized, as well as various machinery, vehicles, mobile phones, documentation and computer media, all of this. for an approximate value of 1.5 million euros

The investigations began in a coordinated manner when a supply of tobacco was detected which, together with various information collected, led the researchers to suspect the possible establishment of a tobacco factory in some Andalusian town.

As a result of the investigations carried out, the researchers initially determined the location of the factory in the town of Marchena, verifying, from the beginning of the investigation, the presence of several individuals from Eastern Europe, along with other Spaniards who seemed to provide the necessary infrastructure. to be able to go unnoticed.

Modus operandi

The organization was run from a luxury villa in the town of Bormujos, where its leaders had temporarily settled. The center of activity was in Marchena, and its infrastructure was also distributed between the towns of Lucena and Écija.

The workers lived inside the warehouses without going outside, with other people in charge of bringing them, in addition to the raw materials, food and drink, and remaining at all times under the control of one of those responsible for the organization.

To carry out the primary phase, the organization used two warehouses located in Lucena, where three people of Ukrainian nationality who were irregularly in Spain worked. The final phase took place in Marchena's warehouse, where there were three individuals of Belarusian nationality and one Ukrainian. The workers lived crammed into a single room without windows, and had been held incommunicado after the leaders of the organization confiscated their mobile phones upon their arrival in Spain.

Destruction of evidence

In the early hours of December 16, after the interventions carried out in Lucena, one of the warehouses was set on fire by several unknown individuals, presumably in an attempt to make the tobacco that was inside disappear. The fire finally burned part of the ship and the merchandise that was inside.

Intervened genres

45,500 packs of cigarettes, 4,200 kilos of tobacco and 10,320 kilos of tobacco leaf and machinery for its manufacture have been seized, which made up a complete line for destemming, cutting, drying and humidifying tobacco.

A truck and a van, two high-end cars, mobile phones and documentation and computer media have been seized and will be analyzed. The total value of the seized goods exceeds one and a half million euros.

All the actions, along with the detainees and the seized merchandise, have been made available to the Investigative Court number 1 of Marchena. New arrests are not ruled out.

The investigations have been carried out by Customs Surveillance officials of the Tax Agency in Seville and Córdoba, and members of the National Police of the Udyco Group 3 Seville and Group 2 of the UDEV Central – Industrial Property Section.

Filming and photographs of the dismantled factory (to download the images you must enter the following web address): https://we.tl/t-4SADDjSVtd