Six illegal tobacco factories with more than 20 million cigarettes dismantled in Seville
The Civil Guard has dismantled two international criminal organizations dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of contraband tobacco after an extensive operation carried out in different parts of Spain and coordinated with numerous European police agencies. The device has settled with the arrest of 50 peoplethe dismantling of six illegal tobacco factories and the seizure of more than 20 million cigarettes, in addition to 38.4 tons of tobacco leaves and cuts valued at more than ten million euros.
The operation has been carried out through 23 searches carried out in homes, buildings and industrial warehouses from the provinces of Seville, Huelva, Murcia, Alicante, Cuenca and Toledo. According to the investigation, the organizations produced cigarettes by counterfeiting well-known brands and subsequently distributed the merchandise both in Spain and in other European countries.
The investigation began more than seven years ago, when the Civil Guard received information from European agencies about the activity of several criminal groups with a presence in different countries of the European Union. He main investigator was a Polish citizen who, according to investigators, had been linked to this type of activities since 2016 and moved around Spain.
Throughout the research, they developed police actions in 2021 and 2023 which allowed us to expand the tests and verify that the structure of these organizations was more complex than initially anticipated. The investigators detected a network of clandestine factories that not only supplied the investigated groups, but also third organizations with connections in Portugal, France and even with possible ramifications in the United Kingdom.
The facilities were perfectly organized to take on all phases of the production process, from manufacturing to packaging and storage of tobacco. Besides, They had spaces enabled as permanent residence for workers. The Civil Guard has highlighted that conditions varied according to rank within the organization: while those responsible had accommodation with better conditions, the rest of the workers lived in overcrowded spaces within the industrial warehouses themselves.
During the searches they were also 18 vehicles, firearms, numerous encrypted electronic devices and around 170,000 euros in cash were seized. Among those arrested are two people who were on the run from Polish justice and who have already been placed at the disposal of the competent authorities of that country.
The investigation has been directed by the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, with the support of units of the Judicial Police of several provinces and the collaboration of organizations such as Europol, OLAF, the Central Investigative Police of Poland, the National Republican Gendarmerie of Portugal and the Criminal Investigation Service of Lithuanian Customs, in addition to other European police forces. The operations, called “Vernisa” and “Maidan-Cigalike”, remain open and the Civil Guard does not rule out new actions. Seven of those investigated, for their part, remain in provisional prison.