Joint operation of the Tax Agency and National Police, in collaboration with the European Anti-Fraud Office

• Eight people have been arrested during the 18 searches carried out in homes and industrial warehouses in the provinces of Cádiz, Jaén, Málaga and Seville, who distributed tobacco and narcotic substances nationally and internationally.
• They have seized 4,600 kilograms of tobacco, 1,182 marijuana plants in the growth phase and another plantation in the assembly phase, packs of tobacco of different brands, a simulated weapon, two firearms and ammunition, among other items.
• The organization had a production capacity of two million cigarettes a day and had incorporated sophisticated machinery that allowed the recovery of tobacco waste from manufacturing itself to generate new product.

January 21, 2022 .- Customs Surveillance Officials of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with agents of the National Police, and in collaboration with the European Anti-Fraud Office, The United Kingdom Customs Service and the Italian Guardia di Finanza have dismantled a total of five illegal cigarette production centers and two indoor marijuana plantations in the provinces of Cádiz, Jaén, Málaga and Seville.

Within the framework of the operation, called 'Joro-Jaral', eight people of Spanish, Ukrainian and Moldovan nationalities have been arrested as alleged members of a criminal organization that distributed tobacco and narcotic substances nationally and internationally. It is estimated that the organization had a potential production capacity of two million cigarettes a day assuming they worked a single eight-hour shift.

The investigations began in mid-2021, when it was learned of the arrival in Spain of a truck from Eastern European countries, inside which it was transporting items intended for the manufacture of illegal tobacco, specifically machines or parts for the assembly of a cigarette production plant and the material necessary for its manufacture.

The agents were able to verify that this vehicle made frequent trips, always going to the same places, located in the Jaén town of Villacarrillo, Carmona (Seville) and in the Cádiz towns of Medina Sidonia and Jerez de la Frontera. The observation work at these locations made it possible to detect that, in turn, there were movements of effects up to a total of 18 places, specifically three homes and 15 industrial warehouses of different types that were linked to each other.

Once these extremes were confirmed, and given the possibility that a crime against industrial property and smuggling was being committed, a police device was planned to proceed with the entry and search of the homes and industrial warehouses located, as well as to arrest those responsible and intervene in the effects that are located. In this way, eight people were arrested, three of them as alleged leaders of the organization and five as collaborators and members of it.

Two complete factories to produce tobacco

It was also determined that there were two complete factories ready to produce tobacco, located in Medina Sidonia and in the Sevillian town of Utrera, with the necessary machinery for packaging and packaging. They also had the necessary infrastructure to house workers permanently in the facilities. Three locations located in Carmona, in the Malaga town of Antequera and in the Jaen town of Chilluévar were equipped with the necessary machinery to process the tobacco leaf and provide the others with the processed material.

Among the various effects seized from the organization, there is a 'recoverer', machinery of great sophistication and very new in the history of tobacco factories dismantled to date. It is a machine that allowed tobacco waste to be recovered from manufacturing itself to produce a new product.

The agents seized from the criminal organization a total of 4,600 kilograms of tobacco, 400 kilos of strips (cut and treated leaf), 573 packs of tobacco of different brands, a truck, 2,335 euros in cash, a simulated weapon, two weapons of fire, ammunition and various materials used for the manufacture, packaging and storage of tobacco. Researchers estimate that the organization would have allocated at least two million euros of investment to launch the production chain.

During the operation, a complete marijuana plantation housed inside a warehouse in Utrera was located, consisting of 1,182 plants in the growth phase, and another plantation in the assembly phase in Chilluévar.

The operation has been carried out by officials from the Investigation Area of the Operations Subdirectorate and the operational units of Seville, Córdoba and Málaga, supported by those of Cádiz, Granada and Jerez of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, as well as by agents from the UDEV Central, the Higher Headquarters of Western Andalusia and the Málaga, Jaén and Linares police stations of the National Police.