Passenger caught at Ibiza Airport with 1,900 cartons of smuggled cigarettes

The Guardia Civil and the Spanish Tax Agency’s Customs Surveillance Service have seized 1,900 cartons of smuggled cigarettes at Ibiza Airport.

The tobacco, with an estimated value of €11,500, was found in the luggage of a 71-year-old Russian passenger.

The operation took place on the afternoon of 6 July during a routine customs inspection in the arrivals terminal.

Officers from the Fiscal and Border Unit became suspicious of the passenger after noticing that he appeared nervous while collecting his luggage. He had arrived on a flight from Istanbul via Amsterdam.

Hidden in two suitcases and a rucksack

Officers scanned the traveller’s two checked suitcases and the rucksack he was carrying. When the luggage was opened, they discovered a total of 1,900 cartons of cigarettes from several different brands.

The tobacco did not bear the required Spanish tax stamps and far exceeded the amount permitted for personal use. Officers seized the entire consignment and issued the passenger with several reports for suspected smuggling offences.

The seizure comes just two months after the Guardia Civil and the Customs Surveillance Service intercepted another 2,000 cartons of smuggled cigarettes at Ibiza Airport.

On that occasion, the tobacco was found hidden in the luggage of a passenger during a routine inspection in the arrivals terminal. The traveller was a 23-year-old man who had arrived on a flight from Frankfurt, although his journey had also begun in Istanbul.

After scanning his two checked suitcases and subsequently carrying out a manual inspection, officers found 2,000 cartons of cigarettes without the required tax stamps. The seized tobacco had an estimated market value of €12,000.