Clamp Down on Tobacco Carriers at Alicante-Elche

Officers from the Guardia Civil in Alicante have confiscated 6,000 euro worth of tobacco products from a Russian citizen who had arrived at Alicante-Elche airport from Amsterdam.

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The passenger was carrying 820 packs of the “Kopaha” brand of cigarettes, valued at 3,500 euro, plus 500 packs of “Winston” cigarettes worth 2,500 euro.

The passenger had packed the cigarettes into two suitcases and was waiting to collect them at the baggage reclaim when two officers from special investigation branch, ODAIFI, who asked the man to open the cases, revealing the contents. Believing the cigarette products were not for his personal use, the man was then arrested for an administrative offence.

The ODAIF branch of the Guardia Civil based at Alicante-Elche airport have increased detections of this type of smuggling by over five-times in 2015 over the previous year, in an attempt to crack down on this sort of crime, which is often misunderstood by many passengers, and yet is of economic importance.