John Culatto
SPANISH police have seized 26.000 cigarette packs smuggled from Gibraltar valued at €117,000 in two separate raids in Spain’s Andalucia.
Guardia Civil agents arrested at least two people during the raids, that took place in Gibraltar’s neighbouring town of La Linea, in the province of Cadiz.
The first incident took place after Civil Guards saw a vehicle leaving the Tonelero Beach at great speed using a track in the neighbourhood of Zabal Bajo.
The police officers discreetly gave chase at a distance and saw the vehicle turn into a plot of land.
Once the vehicle had stopped inside, the officers swooped.
They managed to catch the suspects unloading the contraband tobacco wrapped in black bin bags.
Officers arrested the driver for dealing in contraband and seized 22,500 packs of cigarettes that had a value of over €100,000,
In the second raid, police detected a suspect inside a garage with seven boxes of cigarettes that came from Gibraltar.
They contained a total of 3,500 packs of cigarettes with a value of €15,500.
Police arrested the suspect for tobacco smuggling.
Both men were then left in jail before their respective trials.
Cigarette smuggling is common between Gibraltar and Spain with officers on both sides of the border trying to stamp it out.
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