Rough blow for tobacco smuggling

• The international organization responsible was dismantled and twelve of its members were arrested, including Ukrainian and Belarusian workers who lived hidden in the warehouses without going outside.
• Following the interventions carried out in the town of Lucena, several unknown individuals set fire to one of the warehouses in an attempt to make the tobacco that was inside disappear.
• 45,500 packets, 4,200 kilos of tobacco, 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 equipment.

January 4, 2021 .- Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and the National Police, in a joint operation, have dismantled an international organization dedicated to tobacco smuggling that had set up an illegal cigarette manufacturing center 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 was set on fire by unknown persons, presumably in order to make the tobacco inside disappear. Twelve people of Spanish, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationality have been arrested and 45,500 packets, 4,200 kilos of tobacco and 10,320 kilos of tobacco leaf have been seized, as well as various machinery, vehicles, mobile phones, documentation and computer equipment, all worth approximately 1.5 million euros.

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

As a result of the investigations carried out, the investigators 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, together with other Spaniards who seemed to provide the necessary infrastructure to be able to go unnoticed.

Modus operandi

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

The workers lived inside the warehouses without going outside. Other people were in charge of bringing them, in addition to raw materials, food and drink, and they remained at all times under the control of one of the leaders of the organization.

For the primary phase, the organisation used two warehouses located in Lucena, where three Ukrainian nationals who were illegally in Spain worked. The final phase took place in the Marchena 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 cut off from communication after the leaders of the organization seized their mobile phones upon their arrival in Spain.

Destruction of evidence

In the early hours of December 16, following 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 found inside disappear. The fire eventually burned part of the ship and the merchandise inside.

Intervened genres

45,500 packets of cigarettes, 4,200 kilos of tobacco, 10,320 kilos of tobacco leaves and machinery for their manufacture were seized, which formed a complete line for destemming, cutting, drying and humidifying tobacco.

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

All the proceedings, together with the detainees and the seized goods have been made available to the Court of Instruction number 1 of Marchena. Further arrests are not ruled out.

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

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