BULGARIAN-RUN ILLICIT CIGARETTES PRODUCTION FACTORY BUSTED IN SPAIN

Three illegal factories for illicit production of cigarettes were busted by the Spanish police and Bulgarian authorities for combating organized crime. In addition to being illegal, the cigarettes produced in that factory were described as dangerous for the health by the Head of the Spanish criminal police. The work on the investigation started from information submitted by the Bulgarian directorate for combatting organized crime to their Spanish colleagues.

The cigarettes were made for sale in European Union countries. Some were sold at the Spanish market, others were exported to Great Britain, France and central Europe.

The factories used Bulgarian equipment and the workers were former employees of cigarette production factories in Bulgaria.

In an interview for the BNT morning programme “The Day Begins” on 13th of July, Ivailo Spiridonov, the Director of the Bulgarian chief directorate for combating organized crime said that in 2015, they started a more intensive exchange of operational information about persons who travelled to Spain to work in those factories. “Materials for production of cigarettes and tobacco were taken from Bulgaria to Spain, “ he explained.

It was identified that 2 of the 20 arrested Bulgarians lived in Spain and were involved in the logistics and management of these factories and were the masterminds of the organization.

“One of the factories, near Toledo, I would say is the most modern one. The location was chosen carefully, near a motorway to enable rapid distribution of the products. It takes only 3 minutes for a car or a vehicle to get from there to the motorway and go into any direction,” Spiridonov explained.

He said that the workers were not allowed to leave the factory during the production process because such illegal factories were usually built in small places and the local people would have immediately noticed the presence of people who were not from the region.

Spiridonov explained that the factory in Toledo was built in such a way, that it was difficult to find out what exactly it produced, it was soundproof, the equipment in it was brand new.

In May 2015, a Centre for countering contraband and for control over the movement of risky goods and freight was set up and located in the building of the directorate for combating organized crime. It employs officials from all authorities relevant to the revenue collection in Bulgaria. The work of this centre has been very effective, with obvious results from the figures presented by external structures working in the area of exploring the illicit production of cigarettes, he said.

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