Impressive catch of smuggling cigarettes, the largest ever made in Italy. How did the clandestine factory work that could produce 7 million cigarettes a day
Package of cigarettes, photo: nomadsoul1 / dreamstime.com
Over 150 tons of smuggling cigarettes have been confiscated from a clandestine factory-the largest ever discovered in Italy-hidden in an underground bunker near Cassino, southeast of Rome, the Italian Customs Police announced on Saturday, according to AFP.
Over 7 million cigarettes a day or about 2.7 billion per year could be produced in this illegal factory of 1,600 square meters, according to investigations made by the Financial Guard, writes AFP, according to AGERPRES.
How did the clandestine factory work out
Access to the clandestine factory was made by a “sophisticated hydraulic mechanism that perfectly hid the bunker in which the cars were installed and where tons of counterfeit cigarettes were stored,” the customs police detailed in a statement.
During a search at a logistics deposit a few kilometers from the city of Cassino, in the Lazio region, which was almost entirely empty and devoid of any evidence that could raise suspicions about the activities “, the army eventually discovered an electric box” professionally hidden “in a cardboard box.
It operated the hydraulic levers, which in turn raised an aluminum cab that housed an office, under which was access to the underground bunker.
In the bunker, the military discovered an “authentic industrial factory, built according to the most advanced technological standards”, which was equipped with three lines for tobacco processing and the packaging of counterfeit cigarettes.
The clandestine factory, which could produce about 5,000 cigarettes per minute, also had a ventilation system that “prevented the smoke” from production, added the Financial Guard.
“In this basement were discovered improvised housing, equipped with 18 beds, bathrooms, showers and a dining room, where the production workers worked one at a time, as well as a workshop used to repair the cars on the spot,” the statement said.
The value of the installation was estimated at over 1.7 million euros, and its annual sales, at over 900 million euros, according to the Financial Guard.
“The investigation so far has revealed a total tax evasion of about 600 million euros,” the Financial Guard added, specifying that, at this stage, an arrest was made and.
