Tag: Europol

Tobacco Smuggling Group Dismantled

Photo: Europol
The Portuguese National Guard and the Spanish National Police have dismantled an organized crime group involved in excise fraud and the smuggling of tobacco products, reports Europol.
During coordinated actions on July 7, authorities seized 8,000 kg of tobacco worth €2 million ($2.36 million) and 454,000 cigarettes with a value of €113,500. They also confiscated seven weapons, 24 vehicles and €216,000 in cash and bank deposits. Seventeen people were arrested.
The criminal network was involved in the illegal import of large quantities of tobacco leaves and strips from Spain into Portugal. This raw material served the illegal production of both cigarettes and tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes distributed on the Portuguese black market.
Earlier, in mid-June 2021, Spanish authorities discovered and dismantled cutting and processing facilities. The tobacco processed there was shipped to Portugal where it was stored in different warehouses before being further distributed. Since the investigation was launched in May 2020, the Portuguese and the Spanish authorities have detained 23 individuals and seized about 1.8 million illicit cigarettes along with 11 tons of tobacco, all of which was worth about € 3.2 million.
Illicit trade in tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes continues to be a widespread criminal trend in Portugal. Certain “cheap white” cigarette brands have become so popular on the black market that criminal networks have started to counterfeit them rather than smuggle them. This illegal activity generates millions of euros in profit for the involved criminal organizations.
While total cigarette consumption continues to decline, the share of illicit cigarettes in Europe increased by 0.5 percentage points to 7.8 percent in 2020, according to a recent study by KPMG.
July 13, 2021
RYO Tobacco Smuggling Network Dismantled

Law enforcement organizations in Spain and Portugal have dismantled an organized crime group involved in large-scale tobacco smuggling, according to Europol.
The criminals would illegally import from Spain to Portugal large quantities of tobacco leaf and strips, destined to produce both cigarettes and tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes, which were subsequently distributed onto the Portuguese black market.
On June 24, police arrested eight Spanish and Portuguese individuals and seized 11 tons of tobacco leaf and fine-cut tobacco alongside 90,000 illegal cigarettes and 186,500 cigarette filters. The amount of tobacco seized is enough to produce some 11 million cigarettes worth €2.7 million ($3.22 million) in Portugal.
The criminals were managing the import of the tobacco via several companies established with the sole purpose of committing excise fraud. Cutting and processing facilities had been set up in Spain, from which the tobacco was shipped to Portugal where it was stored in different warehouses until it was distributed further.
The revenue loss generated by these tobacco products illegally imported from Spain to Portugal is estimated at more than €2 million.
Europol brought together the national investigators on both sides who have since been working closely together to establish a joint strategy to bring down this network. Since then, Europol has provided continuous intelligence development and analysis to support the field investigators.
June 28, 2021
Counterfeit Operation Dismantled in France

Photo: Europol
French law enforcement officers have arrested five individuals and seized 250,000 counterfeit cigarettes in a series of raids in Nantes.
This action follows an earlier one on April 9, which saw seven other members of the same organized crime group arrested in the cities of Nantes, Rodez and Montpellier. On this occasion, close to 5 tons of counterfeit cigarettes were seized alongside €37,000 ($44,720) in cash.
This organized crime group received the illegal cigarettes from two criminal networks based abroad, arranged for their storage in various cities in France and then managed their subsequent distribution through several criminal wholesalers—composed mostly of Georgian, Armenian and Ukrainian nationals—onto the French black market.
The same organized crime group was also involved in the management of payments and the corresponding financial flows. This criminal group has now been fully dismantled, according to Europol.
Since the start of the investigation, the French investigators collected evidence that more than 75 tons of counterfeit cigarettes were imported and distributed throughout France for a loss to the French budget estimated close to €22 million.
Europol’s Analysis Project Smoke supported this investigation and organized coordination meetings with the national investigators involved to discuss procedural requirements and identify a way forward.
Its experts also organized the intensive exchange of information needed to prepare for the action days in France.
This investigation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats.
May 13, 2021
Smuggling Investigation Yields €1 Million Cash

Photo: Europol
An international law enforcement operation coordinated by Europol and Eurojust with the involvement of three countries has resulted in the arrest of 12 suspects, including the masterminds, belonging to a Russian-speaking organized crime group involved in the illegal cigarette trade. The arrests took place in Belgium and France and included the leaders of the criminal organization.
Between May 4 and May 5, some 28 premises belonging to the crime gang were searched in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, according to a Europol press note. The investigators seized more than €1 million in cash alongside 11 vehicles and hundreds of counterfeit cigarette cartridges. The necessary supplies to make 1.8 million cigarette packages were also discovered at one of the searched locations. Two of the individuals arrested in Belgium are awaiting surrender to the French authorities under a European arrest warrant.
This international sweep followed a complex investigation initiated in July 2020 by the Belgian Federal Judicial Police of Leuven in close cooperation with Belgian Customs, the French Gendarmerie, French Judicial Customs, and the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, with international activities coordinated by Europol and Eurojust. This operation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats
The criminal syndicate, composed mainly of Chechen nationals, was involved in the large-scale production and distribution of counterfeit cigarettes. It is believed that this organized crime group is responsible for the distribution of at least 100 million cigarettes since the autumn of 2020, with an estimated value of more than €45 million.
The counterfeit cigarettes were stored in warehouses in Tienen, Belgium, before being subsequently distributed among buyers from France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
May 9, 2021
Video: Arrests in Anti-Counterfeit Operation
An international law enforcement operation involving the Netherlands, Poland and Europol has resulted in the arrest of 30 members of a prolific organized crime gang flooding Europe with millions of counterfeit cigarettes.
According to Europol, 94 tons of tobacco and 5.4 million counterfeit cigarettes have been removed from circulation following this international sweep. This gang is also believed to be involved in violent robberies.
This operation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats.
Code-named operation PITBUUL, this operation took part in two phases. A first action day was carried out in the Netherlands at the end of March. Two illegal factories were dismantled in the Dutch cities of Schaijk and Heerlen with a production capacity of more than 1 million cigarettes per day, which equates to a tax loss of over €243,000 ($294,521) per day per factory.
A total of 21 Polish and Ukrainian workers were arrested on-site, and 5.4 million counterfeit cigarettes were seized alongside 40 tons of raw tobacco and 800 kilos of hookah tobacco.
A second action day was carried out in Poland last week to arrest the criminal masterminds running this gang. On this occasion, Polish law enforcement raided a dozen of addresses across the country. As a result, nine individuals were arrested and 54 tons of tobacco were seized alongside machinery used for the production of cigarettes. Officers also seized firearms and weapons alongside clothing resembling police uniforms, radio communication devices and signal jammers. According to initial estimates, the loss to the Polish budget is estimated in excess of €11 million.
Europol supported this case by organizing operational meetings, facilitating the exchange of information between the different countries involved and analyzing the operational data to identify the main targets. Its experts were deployed both in the Netherlands and in Poland to support the national authorities on the spot.
The investigation is still ongoing to try to find potential links to other European countries.
April 29, 2021
Illegal Cigarette Factory Dismantled in Denmark
Police arrested 13 individuals for smuggling counterfeit cigarettes from a clandestine factory in Denmark to the United Kingdom, reports Europol.
A timely exchange of intelligence via Europol between the Danish, Dutch and Polish investigators facilitated the investigation carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats.
On March 2, law enforcement officers dismantled an illegal cigarette factory in Vamdrup. This is the first illegal cigarette factory to be dismantled in Denmark. Police arrested 13 individuals of Polish and Ukrainian nationality and confiscated 11 million cigarettes alongside 11 tons of raw tobacco and a full production line.
Forensic analysis is still ongoing to quantify the factory’s exact production capacity, which is presumably several million cigarettes per week.
The value of the seized tobacco products on the illegal market in the United Kingdom is believed to be in the region of €13 million ($15.5 million).
The action in Denmark led to another one in the Netherlands that same week. Investigators of the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service searched the premises of a warehouse in Ospel. Eight pallets of contraband cigarettes stored in maritime containers were seized, worth close to €1 million in the destination market.
The cigarettes produced in Denmark were shipped to the U.K. via the Netherlands.
March 12, 2021
Cigarette Factories Raided in Benelux

Photo: Europol
Authorities seized 14 million cigarettes and 186 tons of cut tobacco during raids carried out in Belgium and the Netherlands this month, reports Europol. Seven workers were arrested at the illegal factory in the Netherlands. With a production area of 6,000 square meters, the illegal factory in Belgium is one of the largest dismantled to date.
This sweep followed an investigation led by Belgian customs with the support of the Polish Police Central Bureau of Investigation, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation and Europol.
The confiscated cigarettes were likely destined for the U.K., which levies high rates of taxation on tobacco products.
These seizures follow those of a separate operation in Spain. On Jan. 4, the Spanish National Police and Spanish Tax Agency targeted a tobacco smuggling network operating in Cordoba and Seville. This operation was also carried with the support with the Polish Central Bureau of Investigation, the Polish National Revenue Agency and Europol.
The Spanish operation resulted in the arrest of 12 individuals, including Spanish, Ukrainian and Belarussian nationals, and the seizure of 910,000 cigarettes, 4.2 tons of filters and 10.3 tons of cut tobacco, along with various pieces of machinery and vehicles. The total value of the seized goods exceeds €1 million.
Europol’s Analysis Project Smoke within the European Economic and Financial Crime Centre supported both these investigations. This team is dedicated to investigating the unlawful manufacturing and smuggling of excise goods.
Analysis Project Smoke facilitated the international cooperation between the involved countries by providing a secure platform of communication, running cross-checks against Europol’s databases and providing analytical and operational expertise to tailor the respective investigation strategies.
Belgium customs seized 409.9 million illicit cigarettes in 2020, up 108 percent from 2019. In addition, customs seized 49 tons of hookah tobacco (up from 4.1 tons in 2019) and 73 tons of other tobacco products.
In total for the year, five illegal cigarette factories were dismantled in Belgium, along with four illegal shisha tobacco factories, one tobacco cutting site, two cigarette packaging sites and six storage sites. In all, 32 people directly connected to illicit tobacco product trade on Belgian soil were arrested.
This illicit traffic in Belgium is “a problem that concerns the entire European Union,” according to Florence Angelici, spokeswoman of the FPS Finance.
January 29, 2021
Illicit Cigarettes Seized Throughout Europe

Photo: Lithuania Customs
European law enforcement authorities seized 67 million cigarettes and 2.6 tons of tobacco worth €35.82 million ($43.62 million) last month, according to Europol. They arrested 17 suspects.
The most significant seizures of the illegally traded cigarettes were made in Lithuania (28.75 million), the U.K. (9 million), Poland (6 million), Ireland (3.5 million), Romania (2.2 million), Sweden (500,000), Latvia (740,000) and Croatia (150,000). Eighty-eight percent of the cigarettes seized were produced in Belarus.
Supported by Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office, the joint operation took place Nov. 2-13, 2020. Led by the customs departments of Lithuania and the U.K., the operation was facilitated by intelligence analysis of excise duty suspension abuse. The fraud scheme consisted of illegally diverting cigarettes from EU internal and external transit customs procedures to the black market without paying millions in taxes.
December 21, 2020
European Authorities Seize Illegal Cigarettes

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Law enforcement authorities seized 37 million illegal cigarettes worth €12.9 million ($15.4 million) and 1.8 tons of tobacco in a 10-day operation led by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency with the support of Europol.
The operation, known as JAD Arktos 2 and coordinated from Frontex’s headquarters in Warsaw, was co-led by Latvia and Finland and saw the involvement of border guards, police and customs officers from Poland, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.
JAD Arktos 2 took place between Nov. 16-25 and targeted excise fraud, particularly tobacco smuggling, document fraud and migrant smuggling at selected border crossing points at EU’s eastern land borders.
Since this operation focused predominantly on identifying criminal activities related to excise fraud, the Analysis Project Smoke within Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Center supported this operation by facilitating the cross-checking of entities against Europol’s databases.
The operation was coordinated under the umbrella of the European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats as part of the EU Policy Cycle, a four-year plan for the fight against serious and organized crime. It brings together police and law enforcement authorities of EU member states, European agencies and international organizations to jointly strengthen Europe’s borders and internal security.
December 11, 2020
Illicit Tobacco Factory Dismantled in Germany

Photo: Europol
Authorities have arrested 12 individuals who ran a large illegal tobacco factory in Kranenburg, Germany. The illegal factory could produce 10 million cigarettes per week.
Around 200 officers were involved in the raid. The 12 workers arrested on site were all Polish and Ukrainian nationals, aged between 28 and 59 years old. 11 million cigarettes were also seized as they were being loaded onto a lorry.
This is the fourth such illicit production facility uncovered on the German territory and undoubtedly one of the largest. The estimated tax loss to the German state revenue for the illegal production alone stands at approximately €1.5 million ($1.77 million) per week, according to Europol, which estimated that the factory had been operating since the end of 2016.
Most of the cigarettes are believed to have been destined for the black market in the United Kingdom where the retail value of cigarettes is much higher than in Germany.
The operation was launched by the German authorities based on information provided via Europol by the Polish Police Center Bureau of Investigation. Europol further supported this operation by facilitating the information exchange between the involved authorities and by analyzing the operational data to identify the main targets.
The investigation is still ongoing to try to identify potential links to other European countries.
August 27, 2020