The second-in-command for Customs Surveillance in Catalonia is in prison for tobacco smuggling at the Port of Barcelona.
There are eight people arrested in total and they have been caught with more than two million boxes of cigarettes.
BarcelonaThe deputy head of the Customs Surveillance Service in Catalonia is in pretrial detention for allegedly being part of a smuggling ring operating in the Port of Barcelona. Francisco Javier Martín Miñana, just days away from retirement, was the head of the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit, a position considered the second-highest ranking in Catalonia within the Tax Agency's group tasked with combating smuggling and drug trafficking. A total of eight people have been arrested, some of them dockworkers and transporters from the Port. Apart from Miñana, three others have been provisionally imprisoned. During the investigation, the Civil Guard and the Tax Agency point out, they have been caught with more than two million boxes of blond tobacco, valued at more than 8.8 million euros.
Miñana's arrest, which has progressed, Eldiario.es and which sources from the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT) have confirmed to the ARA, was made by their colleagues in Madrid. In fact, the case began to be investigated by the Civil Guard and Customs Surveillance of Barcelona, and when they saw that an official was involved, the central special investigations unit of this body joined.
Investigators place Miñana as one of the members of a criminal organization that clandestinely imported and extracted containers of merchandise arriving in Barcelona. To do this, they had "different protagonists from the port" who were in charge of clandestinely removing the containers and providing "operational security" to the group to avoid being caught.
The eight suspects involved in this plot are accused of the alleged crimes of tobacco smuggling, money laundering, and belonging to a criminal organization. In addition, Miñana, due to his position as a public official, is also being investigated for bribery and disclosure of secrets.
Four containers arrived from Türkiye
The alarm was raised on May 14, when the Civil Guard's fiscal unit at the Port intercepted a container that had clandestinely left the Port Nou terminal. The search revealed that three other containers at the terminal, supposedly empty, were also filled with contraband tobacco. The four containers seized had arrived in Barcelona aboard the ship. Halima Cider, originating in Turkey. The total amount was 2,105,810 boxes of tobacco valued at approximately €8.8 million. Investigators also seized cash, cryptocurrency, six vehicles, luxury watches, and documents.
One arrested with a machete
According to ARA, Miñana's arrest took place on Monday and he was brought before a court on Wednesday, when the investigating judge remanded him in custody. However, sources from the AEAT (Spanish Agency for Public Prosecutions) explain that the administrative procedure to release him will move forward in the coming days or weeks, depending on the progress of the criminal case.
Under the supervision of Barcelona's 14th Court of Instruction, investigators have carried out a total of twelve searches. Most were in the Barcelona district—in the capital, in Sant Pere de Ribes, and in an industrial warehouse in Sant Boi de Llobregat—but there was also one in Tarragona and another in Granada. During a search in Sant Pere de Ribes, the Civil Guard reports, one of the arrested individuals attacked a member of the force with a 38-centimeter machete, trying to prevent them from entering his home. In response to the attack, an officer shot the detainee in the arm. He was treated at Bellvitge Hospital and released hours later.