| Three men accused of masterminding a tobacco smuggling operation to the UK have been arrested as part of a joint operation involving the Guardia Civil and British police after a lorry containing an illegal batch of more than four million cigarettes worth nearly half a million pounds was seized by customs and excise officers at Dover port.
The lorry driver, who was unaware of the scam, has been released from custody.
The three detainees have been identified as JAA (64) from Jaén, but resident in Pamplona; SLL (36) from Pamplona, but resident in Irún and MFM (40) from Guipúzcoa, who also lives in Irún.
They are accused of using innocent third-party haulage contractors to transport loads of duty-free cigarettes concealed among legal consignments of Spanish-produced export items, utilising forged paperwork, and arranging for the contraband to be picked up before final delivery to the UK customer. |
