• Tobacco was found in the checked luggage of four passengers from Egypt

• The total value of the seized packages exceeds 25,000 euros

May 21, 2024.- Officials of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency in the Basque Country and civil guards from the Tax and Border Section of the Bilbao airport, seized on April 19 6,000 packs of undeclared tobacco that were inside the luggage of four passengers from Egypt who had made a stopover in Athens (Greece).

The operation was initiated in response to a communication received by Spanish Customs, within the framework of coordination mechanisms between customs, according to which a consignment of tobacco could be illegally introduced through Bilbao airport.

The Risk Analysis Unit of the airport Customs Enclosure, made up of agents from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and civil guards, was alerted, and both institutions acted as State Fiscal Guard under the functional dependence of the Regional Customs Area of the Basque Country, and detected four passengers with eight large suitcases concealing some 6,000 packets of cigarettes.

For these events, each of the travelers was charged with an administrative violation of smuggling, due to the introduction of tobacco without the corresponding declaration to Customs.

Consequences of tobacco smuggling

Smuggled tobacco, in addition to being a fraud against the Treasury, is not subject to the legally established quality controls. In turn, the profits obtained by the organizations generate illegal profits and can be used to finance other types of criminal activities.

For more information, please contact the Regional Customs and Tax Office. Basque Country on 944255058 or with the Civil Guard OPC in Bizkaia, on the telephones 605891575 / 627213802.