John Culatto
CUSTOMS officers from the Algeciras port have discovered the biggest haul of cigarettes arriving by container in Spain this year.
Authorities found over 10.3 million cigarettes with a combined value of over €2 million from India hidden in the shipment from India.
With the assistance of the National Police, they questioned a person connected to the company that made the order.
Suspicions first arose over the shipment when it was labeled as sheets and other bedclothes.
Investigators, who for months have been working on targeting illegal traffic of goods by container, moved to check its contents.
Inside it they found 1,032 boxes of tobacco valued at about €2.1 million.
While the Algeciras authorities are used to tackling duty-free tobacco smuggling from nearby Gibraltar, this seizure from India was a real surprise.
An Algeciras court has since seized the illegal tobacco and confiscated the merchandise.
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