- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Murcia Today Alicante Today
Date Published: 04/03/2022
ARCHIVED - Largest-ever illegal tobacco factory in Spain uncovered in Velez-Malaga
The seized product had a market value of 3m euros and was destined for Spain and northern Europe
The Reveno-Glycerin operation, developed by Customs Surveillance and the Civil Guard, has taken down the largest illegal tobacco plant ever discovered in Spain in the municipality of Velez-Malaga. Three people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil and another three are being investigated for crimes related to producing and distributing shisha tobacco both nationally and internationally.
The Tax Agency has reported that the criminal organisation had the potential to produce around 250 kilos of tobacco a day and that in the last year alone, they could have sold more than 65,000 kilos. There’s a huge demand for this tobacco for hookahs in northern Europe, and the amount seized had an estimated market value of more than three million euros.
In the middle of last year, investigators traced a shipment of the product to France that originated from a chain of four warehouses in Velez-Malaga. After careful surveillance, officers determined that the first premises was used to receive shipments of tobacco, which the suspects hid among clothes and sports shoes, while the second, smaller operation nearby housed more tobacco products. The third warehouse was the supplier of the raw materials and was equipped with a CCTV system while the fourth was the logistics centre, which served as a warehouse for both strip tobacco (chopped and treated leaf), as well as for semi-finished products and packaging.
Coordinated searches of the four buildings led to three arrests, two Jordanians and one Egyptian.
The agents dismantled the factory, seizing equipment including crushers, grinders and vats, along with 2,432 kilos of ‘strips’, 6,000 kilos of tobacco for hookah of various brands and flavours, materials used for the packaging and storage of tobacco, more than 51,000 labels in different languages, a van and three high-end vehicles.
Images: Guardia Civil
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