Viterbo: illegal cigarette factory dismantled; 20 tonnes of tobacco seized
The operation by the Guardia di Finanza led to the arrest of eight people caught in the act, accused of smuggling and using counterfeit trademarks. Small living quarters containing food, a television, sofas and ten beds were discovered in the building
Around twenty tonnes of tobacco seized, with an estimated value of 7.5 million euros, and eight arrests caught in the act. This is the outcome of an operation by the Viterbo Financial Police, who, in the Settevene area, uncovered and dismantled a fully-fledged clandestine cigarette production facility, handling the entire process from shredded tobacco to finished packets packed into cartons. The suspects are charged with smuggling and the use of counterfeit trademarks.
The investigations
The investigations that led to the large-scale operation by the Guardia di Finanza had begun in recent days, when a patrol from the Civita Castellana unit, whilst carrying out a routine check, noticed hurried and frantic activity involving the loading of goods near a warehouse that had been under surveillance for some time.
A roadside check on the vehicle, which had joined the S.S. Cassia heading towards Rome, confirmed the Guardia di Finanza’s suspicions: the lorry was carrying around six tonnes of manufactured tobacco bearing the Winston and Marlboro brands. According to the Guardia di Finanza, the brands were flawlessly counterfeited, even though every packet bore the same serial number. The driver, who is said to have been paid around one thousand euros for the job, was arrested in the act.
The operation
At this point, the Guardia di Finanza, together with the Civita Castellana fire brigade, went to the building from which the consignment had set off. After breaking down the building’s entrance doors, the law enforcement officers found themselves face to face with a fully-fledged clandestine tobacco factory. Seven Paraguayan nationals were caught in the warehouse in the process of processing tobacco.
The assembly line used to produce the tobacco products – which alone has an estimated cost of around two million euros – was automated and sophisticated, enabling it to continuously churn out packets of Winston, Marlboro Red and Marlboro Gold cigarettes from raw materials. The products were identical in every respect to the originals, as confirmed by an expert appointed by the multinational companies. The production process, however, posed a risk to the health of unsuspecting end consumers: there were absolutely no health checks, and the methods used to process the tobacco were rudimentary.
