Alex Trelinski
A Guardia Civil lieutenant in charge of the Oliva barracks is one of 21 people arrested in the Valencian coastal town for making and distributing illegally-produced cigarettes across Spain.
The lieutenant has been charged with cooperating with a criminal organisation.
The Levante newspaper has reported that a Guardia officer had filed a complaint against him and another colleague to regional headquarters after allegedly suffering years of harassment at their hands.
As for the cigarette gang, 20 people- mainly Bulgarian nationals- operated from a warehouse on an Oliva industrial estate.
They face smuggling charges and belonging to a criminal gang.
12 tons of tobacco leaves and over 770,000 packs of illegally-produced cigarettes have been seized.
The Guardia Civil said the value of the stash had a retail value of nearly €5 million, with the clandestine and sophisticated factory capable of producing around 385,000 packets every five days.
It’s believed that a large group of exploited workers were used by the gang.
The Guardia Civil operation is still on-going.
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