Hannover - Customs authorities have dismantled a smuggling ring responsible for the illicit importation of 1.5 billion untaxed cigarettes into the European Union. This operation has resulted in a staggering tax loss exceeding 550 million euros. According to a joint announcement from the Bielefeld Public Prosecutor's Office and the Hannover Customs Investigation Bureau, a specialized 'Joint Investigation Team' has successfully uncovered a large-scale smuggling operation. The details of this case highlight the extensive measures taken to evade customs regulations. On Tuesday, law enforcement officials executed arrest warrants against ten suspects and carried out a total of 15 search warrants across various locations. The arrested individuals are accused of smuggling 150 shipping containers filled with untaxed and uncustomed cigarettes into the EU over several years, distributing them across various member states. The investigation began in May 2020 after Belgian customs authorities alerted their German counterparts about three containers that were reportedly carrying building materials intended for a company based in Hannover. These containers were transported from Antwerp (Belgium) to Duisburg and subsequently picked up by a logistics firm. During a raid on a warehouse in Moers, North Rhine-Westphalia, six individuals were apprehended, including a transport contractor and a person who coordinated the shipments. In addition to the cigarettes, authorities discovered 51,000 kilograms of untaxed shisha tobacco in three of the containers. To avoid detection by customs in Belgium, the smugglers only declared the first container filled with legitimate building materials, while the other two were completely filled with cigarettes. This deceptive practice was used to facilitate the entry of over 20 additional containers into the EU. The smuggled cigarettes were primarily produced in official manufacturers located in Turkey and Iran. The products were exported globally to various overseas ports, where they were transferred under false product descriptions on shipping documents before being brought into ports in EU member states. Upon entry, incorrect descriptions and fictitious recipients were registered in the shipping documents. The Bielefeld Public Prosecutor's Office has since executed seven national arrest warrants along with two European arrest warrants for suspects in Belgium and one for the Netherlands. Searches were conducted at 15 locations across North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Bavaria, as well as in Belgium and the Netherlands, leading to the identification of 15 individuals involved in the operation.