Working with the Guardia Civil, Torrevieja’s Policía Local have seen success in recent days with their seizure of counterfeit cigarettes to the value of € 77,000.

The cigarettes were confiscated from traders working on town centre streets, from which they removed about 3,500 packets of counterfeit brands.

The Policia Local GRO has also been carrying out surveillance on the roads leading into Torrevieja where they have been stopping vehicles carrying counterfeit goods being used to resupply the illegal traders. These operations have resulted in the arrest of 4 people all of whom have been charged will offences relating to the sale of fake goods.

In addition to the tobacco smuggling arrests, several operations have been carried out in the leisure areas of the city, specifically in the pubs and bars of Paseo Juan Aparicio, where illegal Sisha and Hookah products have also been seized.

Customs officers in the region have warned of a recent upsurge of illicit tobacco trafficking in the province warning smokers that in making any purchases they might not be getting quite what they expect.