A cross-border police operation in Spain has shut down six illegal cigarette factories and led to the arrest of 50 suspects, including a Lithuanian national accused of masterminding the illicit production.
Officials said the raids broke up two organised crime networks operating in Spain. Those detained included Lithuanian and Polish nationals, among them a Lithuanian already known to police who is suspected of being a key figure behind the operation.
Spain's Civil Guard carried out 23 raids across several provinces, uncovering more than 20 million cigarettes and 38.4 tonnes of tobacco, some shredded and some still in leaf form. Investigators say the factories had the capacity to produce up to 7.8 million cigarettes a day.
The seized goods are estimated to be worth more than €10m. Police also confiscated 18 vehicles, encrypted phones and computers, €170,000 in cash, and firearms.
The operation was carried out jointly by Lithuania's Customs Criminal Service, Europol, the EU's Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Poland's Central Investigation Bureau and Portugal's National Guard.
Lithuanian customs officials said the case supports warnings from analysts that as the EU tightens security along its external borders, criminal gangs are increasingly setting up illegal cigarette factories inside the bloc itself.
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