Massive Tobacco Bust: 12.5 Million Illegal Cigarettes Seized Across the Netherlands
Dutch investigators have seized 12.5 million illegal cigarettes in three operations carried out over the past two weeks. Authorities said the action prevented an estimated €4.2 million in lost excise duty for the state.
The seizures were made by a specialist team from the Finance Ministry and Customs, working under the Fiod (Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service). The operations took place at multiple locations across the Netherlands (Nederland) after intelligence and routine checks led officials to suspicious shipments.
The first discovery was made on January 28 in Rotterdam (Rotterdam). More than 3.5 million cigarettes were found hidden inside a shipping container filled with plastic crates, with cigarette cartons concealed between them. The container was located after a tip-off, and officials confirmed that the Netherlands was not the final destination of the shipment.
A second interception occurred just over a week later on a motorway near Nieuw-Amsterdam (Nieuw-Amsterdam) in Drenthe (Drenthe). The cigarettes were traced following a customs inspection in the port of Rotterdam. They were packed in wooden crates labelled as saunas, which did contain sauna parts, but also concealed about 6.5 million cigarettes inside their frames.
Five days later, another batch of illegal tobacco was uncovered at a business site in Vlijmen (Vlijmen), Brabant (Brabant), with additional cigarettes seized in a warehouse in Den Bosch (Den Bosch). In total, more than 2.5 million cigarettes were found in these raids, which were intended for illegal sale in the Netherlands. One suspect has been arrested, and the Fiod said further arrests remain possible.