Tag: Europol

Belarus Smugglers Busted in Poland
Polish law enforcement officials have disrupted the operations of Belarusian tobacco smugglers and seizing large amounts of cash and valuables, according to Europol. The criminals were initially under investigation for drug trafficking in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Intelligence provided to the investigators by Europol revealed that the suspects were trafficking large quantities of tobacco products from Belarus to Poland. The proceeds of these criminal activities were laundered through cash conversion methods, property investments, the purchase of expensive luxury goods and the use of cryptocurrencies.
Police detained 15 individuals and seized considerable amounts of cash seized in zlotys, euros and U.S. dollars, along with gold bars, jewelry, and seven luxury vehicles. The total value of seizures amounted to €2 million ($2.14 million).
Europol’s dissemination of intelligence packages has given investigators new insight into the criminal network. In addition to identifying tobacco smuggling as a source of income, investigators were now able to trace the illicit profits. Analysis of encrypted data intercepted from criminals’ phones also revealed locations used to hide large sums of cash. Europol provided an analyst and a specialist on-site to assist the 200 Polish law enforcement officers involved in the operation.
The European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) tackles threats posed by organized and serious international crime affecting the EU. EMPACT strengthens intelligence, strategic and operational cooperation between national authorities, EU institutions and bodies, and international partners. EMPACT runs in four-year cycles focusing on common EU crime priorities.
February 20, 2023
Counterfeit Tobacco Seized in France

Photo: Europol
French authorities seized more than 100 tons of illegal tobacco-related products worth €17 million ($18.43 million) during a raid on Jan. 12.
According to Europol, the confiscated materials included 19.4 million cigarettes and 15 tons of cut tobacco along with 50 tons of packaging materials, such as paper, filters and labels, as well as 18 tons of waste from the cigarette production process.
Officers also seized vehicles, factory machinery and electronic equipment. The seized tobacco and counterfeit products were destroyed.
During the raid, which involved more than 60 officers from the French National Gendarmerie, police arrested nine suspects, most of them Moldovan nationals. The gendarmes discovered a quasi-industrial setup for the production of counterfeit cigarettes in large quantities. They discovered three separate zones in the targeted factory.
One of the zones was dedicated to the processing of raw tobacco to produce boxes of cigarettes labeled as well-known brands sold on the legal market. Another zone was dedicated to the storage of large boxes of counterfeit cigarettes. The third zone was used as a living area for the workers with some 15 beds, a kitchen and a living room. This allowed the workers to live at the factory, completely cut off from the outside world.
Europol facilitated the information exchange and provided specialized analytical support. On the action day, Europol supported the French authorities by cross-checking operational information against Europol’s databases in real-time and providing leads to investigators in the field.
In 2020, Europol created the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre to increase synergies between economic and financial investigations and to strengthen its ability to support law enforcement authorities in effectively combating major criminal threats.
January 17, 2023
Illicit Tobacco Seized in Belgium

Photo: Europol
Authorities seized over 57 million cigarettes and more than 48 tons of cut tobacco during raids in Belgium, reports Europol. The actions prevented the circulation of illegal tobacco products with a total tax value of more than €32 million ($31.98 million).
Police carried out house searches in warehouses and at a private residence in Belgium, some of which were based on intelligence provided by the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau on suspicious deliveries to addresses in Belgium.
Law enforcement officers discovered two production lines for cigarettes bearing a variety of well-known brand names. The market value of the seized cigarettes amounted to around €73 million in the United Kingdom, the presumed country of distribution for the majority of the products.
Additionally, law enforcement secured a large number of empty packages, filters, cigarette paper, glue, cardboard and packaging film, as well seven new machines intended for a new production and packaging line.
The searches led to the discovery of several clandestine production sites, as well as warehouses for storage of large quantities of tobacco products. In some locations, sleeping quarters for workers were uncovered on the premises. Along with confiscating significant amounts of raw materials, authorities seized various vehicles and arrested several persons of Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian and Jordanian nationality.
The seizures are the latest in a series of actions against the illegal cigarette trade in Belgium. This year alone, authorities uncovered and dismantled five illegal tobacco production sites and 15 storage warehouses in the country. Over the same period, they confiscated more than 274 million cigarettes, 88 tons of cut tobacco, 65 tons of water pipe tobacco and 40 tons of raw tobacco.
The unpaid tax on these products totals more than €139 million, according to Europol.
Belgium has become a major hub for illegal tobacco production due to its proximity to the French and British borders, and the rising excise duty rates in neighboring countries.
August 31, 2022
Cigarette Smugglers Busted in Hungary

Image: alexlmx
An operation, led by Hungary and supported by Europol and Eurojust, and involving law enforcement authorities in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland has led to the dismantling of a criminal network involved in large-scale tax fraud concerning cigarette smuggling.
The investigation was initiated as the result of intelligence analyzed by Europol. In a recent action day, law enforcement officers arrested one suspect and seized a large amount of valuables.
In March 2021, the Hungarian Tax and Customs Administration seized nearly 23 million unsealed cigarettes that arrived by plane from Dubai to the Hungarian airport of Debrecen. Produced in the United Arab Emirates, the tobacco products were concealed in car parts being shipped on cargo planes. Hungarian authorities intercepted one shipment as it was leaving the airport in four trucks with Polish license plates.
Officials suspect that there were two similar deliveries earlier that year, on Jan. 29, 2021, and Feb. 26. 2021. The estimated economic damage to the European Union budget caused by this organized crime group’s tax evasion on the tobacco products amounts to more than €8.75 million.
On August 16, 2022, law enforcement officers seized €750,000 in various currencies, seven luxury vehicles and 49 luxury watches from the Hungarian citizen who was arrested.
The authorities are looking for three further suspects for whom European and international arrest warrants have been issued.
Europol facilitated the information exchange, cross-checked operational information against Europol’s databases and provided additional analytical support to help advance the national law enforcement authorities’ investigations. Eurojust actively facilitated cross-border judicial cooperation between the national authorities involved, including the execution of European investigation orders.
August 30, 2022
French Customs Seize 40 Tons of Counterfeits

Photo: Europol
French Customs arrested two suspected members of a criminal gang and seized 40 tons of counterfeit cigarettes in the Marseille and Paris regions.
The criminal activities were conducted by an international criminal organization operating from Asia, according to Europol. The criminal group shipped counterfeit cigarettes by container from the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa, impersonating the names of legitimate importers.
The commercialization of these cigarettes in France would have represented a tax loss of around €15 million ($16.06 million). The volume of cigarettes confiscated during this operation represents the equivalent of approximately 10 percent of the total seizures made by French Customs in 2021.
Europol facilitated the information exchange and provided specialized analytical support. On the action day, Europol deployed an expert to France to cross-check operational information against Europol’s databases in real-time and to provide leads to investigators in the field.
In 2020, Europol created the European Financial and Economic Crime Centre to increase synergies between economic and financial investigations and to strengthen its ability to support law enforcement authorities in effectively combating this major criminal threat.
May 27, 2022
Belgium Shuts Down Illegal Cigarette Factory

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Belgian Customs, with the help of Europol’s European Financial Economic Crime Center (EFECC), raided and shut down an illegal cigarette manufacturing factory in a former pet hotel in Arlon, Belgium, according to Europol.
Belgian authorities seized the complete cigarette manufacturing machinery and arrested 14 workers, mainly from Eastern Europe. Also seized were 4 tons of tobacco and 2 million counterfeit cigarettes.
Additionally, 40 million counterfeit cigarettes were seized in trailers in an industrial area in Duffel, Belgium. These cigarettes were presumed to have been manufactured at the illegal factory in Arlon and were most likely destined for the black market in France and the U.K.
French Customs was also involved in the investigation, seizing over 25 tons of cigarettes and 16 tons of tobacco from the same organized crime group in the city of La Longueville.
March 18, 2022
Europol: Pandemic Has Boosted Illicit Trade

Photo: Ivan Semenovych
The distribution of counterfeit goods, including cigarettes, has thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest Intellectual Property Crime Threat Assessment, published by Europol and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
The health crisis has presented new opportunities for trade in counterfeit and pirated products, and criminals have adjusted their business models to meet the new global demand.
Imports of counterfeit and pirated goods reached €119 billion ($129.61 billion) in 2019, representing 5.8 percent of all goods entering the EU, according to the latest data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the EUIPO.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new business opportunities for criminals to distribute counterfeit and substandard goods,” said Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle in a statement. “At best, these products will not perform as well as authentic ones. At worst, they can fail catastrophically.”
Tobacco products feature prominently among pirated products. In 2020, cigarettes represented the ninth most-seized counterfeit item in the EU.
Illicit products represent 7.8 percent of total cigarette consumption and a loss of €8.5 billion in tax revenues in the EU, according to the report. Thirty percent of illicit consumption in the EU in 2020 was driven by counterfeit products. The number of seized counterfeit cigarettes increased by 87 percent from 2019 to 2020.
In 2019, cigarettes were one of the most frequently reported counterfeit goods and the second most frequently seized counterfeit items at the EU’s external border.
Illicit tobacco products are increasingly produced in the EU, in modern and professional production facilities, established closer to destination markets. Illicit flows between member states increased by 1.5 billion in 2020. Illicit production facilities have been detected in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland.
China and Russia are the main countries of origin for counterfeit cigarettes smuggled into the EU. The most popular destination markets are those that feature high retail prices for tobacco products. Illicit tobacco products also transit through the EU to large markets, such as the United Kingdom.
The growth of the e-cigarette/vaping market in recent years has entailed a subsequent increase of counterfeit vaping products entering the EU market.
March 8, 2022
Illegal Cigarette Factory Dismantled in Slovenia

Photo: Europol
French and Slovenian authorities have dismantled a cigarette factory in Slovenia that was supplying millions of counterfeit cigarettes to France, according to Europol.
Initiated in October 2020, the investigation focused on an organized crime group involved in the illicit production and distribution of cigarettes. After two successful actions in France in April and May 2021 targeting the criminals involved in the distribution of these counterfeit cigarettes, the Slovenian authorities started a mirror investigation aimed at arresting the suspects responsible for the production of these illegal products.
On Jan. 25, more than 100 officers from the Slovenian National Police Force and Financial Administration simultaneously raided 11 sites, including industrial premises and private residences. They were assisted in the field by officers from the French Gendarmerie as well as French magistrates from the Bordeaux Interregional Specialized Court and Europol officers.
This action uncovered several production sites established in warehouses located in remote areas of Slovenia. In total, more than 26 tons of tobacco were seized in Slovenia as well as 29 million filters, several cigarette-making machines and 10 tons of printed papers for packaging. The seized equipment was capable of producing cigarettes with a value of €13 million on the French market.
Leaders of the criminal network were arrested in Croatia and Slovenia. They will be handed over to the judicial authorities in Bordeaux.
In November 2021, the Slovenian Financial Administration seized an additional 12 tons of cut tobacco.
January 29, 2022
Tobacco Smuggling Route Used For Humans
Seven Moroccan and Malian nationals were apprehended after using former tobacco smuggling routes for illegal immigration between Spain and France.
A joint investigation by Spain’s Civil Guard and the French National Gendarmerie, supported by Europol, led officers to dismantle an organized crime group involved in migrant smuggling. The group is believed to have moved irregular migrants from their country of arrival to another destination within the European Union.
“The organized crime group would firstly seek newly arrived irregular migrants in southern and eastern Spanish coastal areas such as Murcia, Alicante, Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, Navarra and Barcelona,” Europol wrote in a press note.
“The migrants arrived by boat from destinations in North and West Africa. Those irregular migrants would then be taken by road to France via former tobacco smuggling routes in Guipuzcoa and Navarra. The main destination point from there would be Bordeaux, France, with the organized crime group facilitating further illegal immigration from Bordeaux to countries across the European Union.”
October 26, 2021
Video: Polish Authorities Dismantle Illicit Factory
The Polish authorities have dismantled an organized crime group involved in the production of illegal cigarettes, reports Europol.
On July 27, more than 100 officers from Poland’s border guard searched locations across the province of Warsaw. An illicit factory was dismantled, and 16 suspects were charged for their involvement in this illegal tobacco activity. The leader of the criminal organization features among those arrested.
More than 1.6 million counterfeit cigarettes were seized on site by the Polish authorities alongside 13 tons of tobacco that could have been used to produce a further 13 million cigarettes. The tax loss for the Polish treasury is estimated at about €3.8 million ($4.51 million).
The factory’s estimated production capacity was approximately 1 million cigarettes per day. The counterfeit cigarettes were destined predominantly for the U.K. and Germany, where they would have had a value of up to €9.7 million.
August 3, 2021