Spain gang bust: Ukrainians exploited in illegal tobacco operation
BBC 2023-01-22 22:14:45 • 2 mins
By Kathryn Armstrong
BBC News
Police in Spain have broken up a gang they say ran three illegal tobacco factories where Ukrainian refugees worked in poor conditions.
The operations were found in three regions of Spain and 27 people have been arrested.
The gang is alleged to have smuggled large quantities of tobacco turned into counterfeit cigarettes.
The factories could make more than half a million cigarette packs daily, which were sold across Spain and abroad.
Police said the Ukrainians, who had fled Russia's invasion of their country, were living "crammed" into prefabricated shelters within the factories.
