Operation “Zamek” concluded across Europe: 57 tons of tobacco seized and 11 individuals arrested

They have concluded – throughout Europe – police operations aimed at dismantling a criminal group composed of individuals originally Eastern Europe (Ukrainians, Moldovans and Romanians), held responsible for crimes of production and trafficking of contraband cigarettes.

The investigations were carried out by a Joint Investigation Team set up – coordinated by Eurojust – by the Italian, French and Polish judicial authorities.

This was joined by a 'Operational Task Force', or a team of 11 police forces (In Italy, France, Poland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands) established at Europol, which have worked in constant synergy to dismantle a criminal organisation that had branched out, over time, into several countries, thus increasing its illicit interests.

In Italy, the investigations were conducted by the Guardia di Finanza and the Carabinieri of Bergamo, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Bergamo Court.

In more than a year of investigations, through several operational meetings held in The Hague (on site Eurojust ed Europol), it was possible to reconstruct the economic relations and distribution channels of tobacco which, once it arrived in Europe – and therefore also in Italy – was subsequently transferred, via articulated lorries, to the clandestine factories located by the organisation throughout the continent. In particular, the following were identified: two companies operating in the production chain, located in Campania, which would have been recipients of raw tobacco, for the purpose of subsequent processing and shipping abroad.

During the investigation, culminate on action day of November 19, were 11 individuals arrested in various European countries, among which one of the two leaders of the organization, stopped in Poland while he was boarding a plane to Naples.

The intervention of November 19th saw the participation, in Italy, of over 50 soldiers which from the Orobic province have achieved the objectives in the provinces of Trieste, Gorizia, Naples, Avellino, Benevento, Alessandria and Caltanissetta, operating from the first light of dawn and searching homes, offices, companies and warehouses. During the operations concluded, the following were seized: in addition to 7 tons of tobacco destined for the criminal organization, smartphones, electronic devices and accounting documentation considered to be of high evidentiary value. In the home of one of the suspects, also 46.000 euros in cash.

The total amount of tobacco seized during the investigation is equal to 57 tons, of which 10 in Italy.

With reference to the province of Bergamo, the investigations carried out by the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Orobic Guardia di Finanza and by the local Investigative Unit of the Carabinieri, in constant investigative coordination, have allowed, through reconstructions from an economic-financial perspective, to report 10 individuals to the Judicial Authority, As well as of locate and monitor a factory, located in the municipality of Casazza, intended for the illicit tobacco processing. For this reason, already last summer, were subjected to seizure a building, the machinery needed for the clandestine packaging of contraband cigarettes, including an industrial dryer, the tobacco used and the related materials – that is, hundreds of millions of filters, paper reels and packet prints, all bearing the counterfeit brand of a well-known cigarette manufacturing company – as well as arrest, red-handed, 2 foreign citizens in possession of false identification documents, valid for travel abroad.

The investigative investigations revealed that the warehouse seized was located in an industrial area – outside the main communication routes – bordering a wooded area, to better conceal the illicit processing and loading/unloading activities of the articulated trucks arriving on site.

In particular, the property, owned by the owner of a dairy factory in Bergamo, had been rented to a sole proprietorship attributable to a Moldovan citizen – specifically set up a few weeks earlier – which allegedly facilitated the clandestine processing of tobacco subsequently seized, concealing the declared activity in the construction sector. During the access operations, the Bergamo Finance Police and Carabinieri detected the massive illegal construction works built inside the shed, including real apartments made of wood and plasterboard – which housed a dozen workers not authorized to leave the facility – as well as industrial extraction and heating systems, stairways leading to the mezzanine floor, where there were bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms.

It emerged that the (road) transport of clandestinely manufactured tobacco in Casazza was hidden inside packages accompanied by documentation fictitiously certifying the presence of "aluminum frames”, issued by a Como-based company with an operational unit in the Lodi area, which in this way provided cover for the smuggling activity.

The synergies created between the Judicial Authorities and the Police Forces have proven essential to understand in their entirety and complexity the Transnational criminal dynamics, as well as to acquire all the evidence useful for the investigations.

The service action demonstrates the concrete implementation of the investigative tools deriving from judicial and police cooperation, through the daily commitment of the Guardia di Finanza and the Carabinieri as security facilities in the national territory, in the fight against illegal trafficking in general.

With reference to cigarette smuggling, Yellow Flames are at the forefront in guaranteeing the State's financial interests, as well as, also in light of the harmful quality of the products placed on the market, the protection of consumer health.

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