'Gibraltar', a film by Julien Leclercq, with lots of familiar sights

This is the official trailer of a film that was shot in the Campo de Gibraltar in May last year. Directed by Julien Leclercq and originally called L'aviseur, it is scheduled for release on September 11. Campo readers will see a lot of familiar sights in La Línea and Algeciras, among others. Based on a novel by Marc Fiévet that is itself based on a true story, 'Gibraltar' stars such well-known French actors as Vincent Lindon, Gilles Lellouch and Ricardo Sacarcio and tells the story of a French man living in the South of Spain in the 1980s, who cooperated with French customs as an informer on drug trafficking operations in the Strait.

Taxman plans action against cigarette smuggling - in Britain

Very expensive smugglers' boat, beached

BRITAIN / GIBRALTAR / SPAIN Yes, there is definitely a Spanish angle to all the hullabaloo raised by David Cameron when he spoke out loud recently about the damage to the UK's economy brought about by cigarette smuggling. Some of the headlines of the last couple of weeks: How cigarette smuggling fuels Africa's Islamist violence (Guardian); IRA's cigarette-smuggling millionaires: Former terrorists flooding the UK with potentially lethal fakes, cheating taxpayers of billions (MailOnline); Taxman's plan to curb tobacco smuggling in question after stinging report (Telegraph) Taxman’s plan to stop tobacco smuggling goes up in smoke (The Times) Third of cigarettes are illicit as smuggling is new ‘crime of choice’ (London Evening Standard). Not entirely dissimilar headlines have been around the Campo de Gibraltar area for years. More so with the unemployment crisis - permanent in La Línea and worse now. The fact is>>>

Biggest ever hash haul caught at port

(Photo: Guardia Civil)

ALGECIRAS The Guardia Civil detachment at the Port of Algeciras on Monday uncovered almost 33 tons of hash hidden inside a truck supposedly transporting fruit that was coming into Spain from Tangier. This is the largest haul ever taken on land and is almost double the total taken in the whole of last year. The illicit drug was hidden behind a screen behind two pallets of melons, which is what the lorry's manifest said it was transporting. On another matter (and in another article) importers of perishable goods, meeting at the Reina Cristina Hotel, are asking for less or lighter inspections at the Customs shed.

Guardia Civil to watch over Straits with drones and by satellite

Camcopter S-100 helicopter drone

ALGECIRAS The frontier-watch unit of the Guardia Civil (FRONTEX) is to open a new era of innovation. The latest technology, as offered by helicopter drones and satellites, will be the starting point. Under the name 'Closeye' (sounds like a Hollywood spy movie, but isn't) the GC will be gradually incorporating new systems to its effort at stopping smugglers and 'illegal' immigrants from crossing the Straits of Gibraltar. This is a first for similar European operations, and consists of three phases, the first of which is experimental, aimed at fine tuning the systems to be used.

Another Spanish TV reports on smuggling from Gibraltar

'REPORT: Living on contraband'

SPAIN / GIBRALTAR Telecinco, the Spanish TV station, broadcast a report yesterday on La Línea's financial mess and tobaco smuggling across the Gibraltar frontier. This comes a week after another channel, Antena-3 emmitted a similar report on their Espejo Público (Public Mirror) programme, which called the situation a 'hot frontier'. A reporter from El programa de Ana Rosa ('Ana Rosa's Programme', presented by frequent-Sotogrande-visitor Ana Rosa Quintana) came to the area in February, doing a lot of vox pop reporting and eliciting responses mainly centred on the fact that the are no jobs in the area and tobacco smuggling is a way of subsisting for 'thousands of people', according to one interviewee - which has been made a great deal more difficult since the new 4-pack law came into effect at the beginning of the year.>>>

19 firearms seized from tobacco smugglers

21 people under arrest and 60,000 cigarette packs confiscated · La Línea connection

SEVILLA The Guardia Civil have arrested 12 people allegedly belonging to a tobacco smuggling gang in the first phase of Operation Pisonova carried out in the provinces of Sevilla and Cádiz, where the gang has been dismantled. More arrests are expected. Aside from the tobacco, the GC also confiscated ten vehicles, six real firearms and 13 simulated ones that could be made to fire real bullets, plus €166,000. The operation began several months ago, when the GC received a tip-off that there was a gang in the Aljarafe area of Sevilla possibly involved in criminal activity. Further investigation led to a well organized and structured with close connections to another gang based in La Línea and another in the centre of Sevilla, both used for distribution purposes. So far, nine properties, homes and storage units, have been searched in several areas of Sevilla, as well as La Línea. Other searches have been made at shops, presumably looking for contraband tobacco.

Gibraltar, the centre of large smuggling gang

Spanish Customs agents arrest 15 and searches properties in Cataluña and Andalucía

SEVILLA Fifteen arrests and eleven searches are the first results of a new operation against contraband, as well as confiscation of goods and cash worth ove €6,000,000. According to a press note released by Customs, the detainees are members of a gang that distributed contraband tobacco, smuggled from Gibraltar, Andorraa and the Canary Islands, throughout he country. The haul consisted of €43,000 in cash, 117 silver coins, one gold  ingot, three boats, 44 vehicles, current bank accounts and 55 properties. The present operation is derived from an earlier one, Operación Raya, in which 13 were arrested and 70,000 cigarette packs confiscated. The organization distributed their 'goods' by land and sea, using hired vehicles, courier services, trucks and containers.

New law proposes only 80 cigarettes to be allowed out of Gibraltar

Smuggling has a long history

At present, the total allowed per month is 200, if you live within 15k of the border - officially

SPAIN The area's tobacconists have been complaining for at least two years now, that their sales are down considerably, and not because people are buying less but because tobacco smuggling from Gibraltar has reached unprecedented proportions. Under new budget measures, Madrid is proposing to clamp down on this practice by slashing by over half the number of cigarettes allowed across the frontier. A new law that came into effect in June says thatSOON YOU WILL BE UNABLE

Arrested for attempted bribery

(Photo: espaciodigital.es)

LA LÍNEA A Spanish man was arrested at the border earlier this week after he offered a Guardia Civil officer money to turn a blind eye. According to The Gibraltar Chronicle he picked the wrong man. He wanted to get three boxes (boxes, not cartons) through the Spanish Customs at the border. Instead he was arrested for attempted bribery. This is only one of several incidents that are part of the GC's ongoing crackdown on tobacco smuggling. They have increased roadblocks coming out of La Línea and achieved a good measure of success, according to local sources.

Guardia Civil intercepts 484,620 cigarettes at border so far this month

(Photo: espaciodigital.es)

524 people denounced for contraband and 96 vehicles impounded

LA LÍNEA (Agencies) Customs agent of the Guardia Civil Fiscal unit at the border with Gibraltar have intercepted a total of 24,231 packs at the their routine inspections at the frontier. That's so far this month, and we're only half way through. Aside from the cigarettes, a total of 96 vehicles were impounded and 524 people are charged with contraband offences. Much of the contraband was hidden in the false bottoms of vehicles crossing the frontier, or in hidden spots in the cars and vans, as well as strapped to pedestrians or carried in luggage by them. Add this to>>>

Boiling hot arrest

(Photo: eruropasur.es)

GIBRALTAR Customs announced yesterday in a press release that a 41 year old Spanish national had been detained by them as his van was about to leave Gibraltar with two boilers aboard. On closer inspection, the boilers contained 19,200 Winston cigarettes, or 96 cartons. The man, whose name has not been released, was freed on bail to appear in court on the 19th. The vehicle and its cargo were placed 'at the disposal of Customs.

Smuggling creates employment, says report

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR A recent article in El País reported that tobacco smuggling actually creates employment in Spain, especially in the Campo de Gibraltar and around the border with Andorra. Referring to the former, in a district suffering under almost 40% unemployment, it is commonplace to cross the border into Gibraltar for tobacco is one way of making ends meet, or to just put food on the table. A carton of tobacco on the Rock costs about €25; once in Spain it has gone up to €42 - a €17 profit. In fact, tobacco smuggling in the Campo area, says the article, is not looked upon as shameful 'employment', rather the opposite. And anyway, smuggling from Gibraltar into Spain is a tradition that goes back as far as the late 1700s, when Britain seized the Rock from Spain. For a number of years, as recently as the 1960s and 70s, it was a means of survival not dissimilar to the circumstances today.PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ITEMS SUCH AS THIS MAY BE SUBJECT TO SUBSCRIPTION IN THE FUTURE but you can make a donation NOW, too! Please click here for more information on how to help us continue. (This item has taken 54 minutes to produce.)>>>

Tension grows as frontier checks multiply - unemployment blamed

Inside Spanish Aduana precinct
(Photo: GibChrinicle)

GIBRALTAR (GibChronicle)  The ongoing Guardia Civil crackdown on smuggling is clear to see: dozens of motorbikes and vehicles, seized in recent days after Spanish officers found them stuffed full of contraband cigarettes. There were tense scenes on the Spanish side of the border yesterday as dozens of angry people arguing with border guards that the checks were excessive.In Gibraltar there were tailbacks and delays of over an hour to cross into Spain. The focus for much of the week has been on motorbikes, but yesterday it was cars that were being targeted.>>>

Guardia Civil seizes over 80,000 cigarette packets since the beginning of September

(Photo: Guardia Civil)

LA LÍNEA (Agencies) The Guardia Civil post at the entrance to Spain from Gibraltar has seized 82,713 packets of cigarettes since WSeptember 1st. This is the result of searches made of vehicles and pedestrians coming from Gibraltar. Large quantities of packets missing the seals of intra-community legality have been found in the false bottoms or spaces in cars, vans and even motorbikes, hidden in the clothing or baggage of pedestrians. In total, 181 motorbikes have been confiscated, plus 161 cars and vans, while some 548 people have been charged with 520 cases of contraband.

Legal tobacco sales plummet

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) Tobacco sales from legal outlets in Algeciras amounted to €5.9 million in 2009, compared to that for Cádiz (city), at €23 million, or Jerez, with €30. Local tobacconists complain that controls at the frontier are ineffective. For further comparisons, the amounts for Algeciras are taken from numbers of towns of more than 75,000 inhabitants, yet Soria and Teruel, with a populations of 40,000 and well inland, register sales of over €6.8 million. The latest report from the Government has plenty of comparisons among cities and towns all over Spain. Similar circumstances appear near the Principality of Andorra, where the price of a carton of cigarettes is almost half of that on the Spanish side of the border. Police operations during the feria in Málaga this summer revealed that 93% of the tobacco confiscated came from Gibraltar. A spokesperson for the organization that congregates tobacconists in Algeciras, points out that their sales have fallen by 27% year on year and, he says, it affects the whole of the Campo area.

Seized tobacco to be auctioned off

Stored by RGP

GIBRALTAR (GibChronicle) The Gibraltar Government plans to sell large quantities of cigarettes seized by local law enforcement agencies during anti-smuggling operations. At present those cigarettes are destroyed but the Government has published a proposed legislative amendment that will enable it to auction the confiscated goods. The auctions will only be open to persons who are in possession of a valid wholesale licence and the proceeds will be paid into the consolidated fund. The change comes against the background of a crackdown on tobacco smuggling, which has surged in recent months on the back of high unemployment in the Campo de Gibraltar. The Royal Gibraltar Police and HM Customs (Gibraltar) have both intensified their anti-smuggling efforts, as have law enforcement agencies in Spain. They are targeting the border area, housing estates and areas of town where people gather to buy and conceal cigarettes before heading across to Spain. The aim is to disrupt and deter those involved.>>>

Contraband tobacco doubles since 2010

LA LINEA (Agencies) The amount of tobacco seized at the frontier by the Guardia Civil has increased significantly so far this year. According to data supplied by the frontier post, some 262,104 packs of cigarrettes have been confiscated, largely at the border itself (203,533), from January to the end of April. This compares with the 116,958 taken in the same period last year, an increase of over 50%. The number of vehicles seized at the border has also increased, the vast majority of which contained smuggled tobacco: 569 vs 309. Guardia sources say that much i of the increase is owed to an equal increase in the number of controls being carried out, at the border and beyond, as does the force's strict application of the law that limits to 200 cigarettes per month per person that is allowed through. Traditional methods of smuggling have also changed.>

Spaniards fined £50,000 for cigarette smuggling in Gibraltar

Smuggling from Gib to Spain

GIBRALTAR (Agencies & GibChronicle/Photo: Letters from Gib.com) Two Spanish nationals were fined £50,000 by the Magistrates Court this week after they admitted attempting to smuggle 500,000 cigarettes across the border into Spain. Rafael Alberto Piñero Benítez, from Chiclana, and Yerina García Martín, from La Línea, were arrested by Customs officers on Good Friday as they were leaving Gibraltar in a motor caravan. Officers found the equivalent of 50 cases of cigarettes stashed throughout the caravan. The two pleaded guilty to charges of possession and unlawful transportation of a commercial quantity of cigarettes, as well as being knowingly concerned in its exportation. Stipendiary Magistrate Charles Pitto imposed a fine of £25,000 each to be paid immediately. In default of the payment, each defendant will spend 180 days in prison. The arrests come as police forces on both sides of the border are clamping down on contraband tobacco and Spain is toughening laws on it. The federation of tobacconists of the province of Cadiz have also been complaining bitterly that their business is severely impacted by smuggled tobacco on sale just about anywhere except at the official tobacco outlets like theirs.

Guardia Civil seize 40,939 cigarette packets in April and 12,000 last Wednesday alone

LA LINEA (Agencies) Guardia Civil and Aduana agents caught a total of 40,939 packets of cigarettes and 899 packets of rolling tobacco in the area, over the month of April. None of the seized tobacco had the proper tax stickers indicating that it had paid excise tax in Spain. There were some 394 people denounced for contraband or contributing to contraband (i.e. selling), and 149 vehicles confiscated under the same law. In a more recent major move against smuggling in the Campo de Gibraltar, the Guardia Civil seized 11,940 packets of cigarettes and 2,797 packets of roll-up tobacco in three separate operations last Wednesday in San Roque.

Outbreak of stupidity in Straits - yet again

GIBRALTAR/SPAIN Yet another outbreak of stupidity emerges from the waters of the Bay of Algeciras. A 'grave' incident (say two Spanish papers) took place yesterday, Easter Sunday, when a Guardia Civil boat intercepted a drug smuggler speeding in from the Moroccan coast carrying (according to one Spanish paper) 100 kilos of hashish. One Gibraltar paper says that a police vessel sustained minor damage, and a Spanish one says a GC did same. The same Gibraltar paper says no one is believed to have been hurt in the incident, and a Spanish paper says one GC was injured. A Spanish website says that a single Guardia Civil boat was suddenly 'accosted' by seven vessels from the Rock, belonging to Customs, the Royal Navy and the RGP. And so it goes on, and on and on. Call it diplomatic ping-pong, or speedboat diplomacy, or anything else. What it is, is plain stupid ... or is everyone happy to intercept each other's anti-drug efforts and see their children brain dead from all that hash?