Colombian authorities, in collaboration with the United States Homeland Security Investigations Agency, HSI, managed to dismantle a criminal network dedicated to footwear and cigarette smuggling in the departments of Nariño and Valle del Cauca.
The operations, carried out by the Tax and Customs Police, Polfa, and the National Tax and Customs Directorate, Dian, resulted in the capture of seven individuals and the seizure of a large amount of merchandise.
During search and seizure operations in commercial premises in Pasto and a warehouse in Cali, 19,023 pairs of shoes of different brands, valued at $2.4 billion, were seized.
This merchandise did not comply with customs requirements and came from the Asian continent, being brought into the country illegally.
At the same time, in another operation on the Yumbo-Cali highway, 502,500 packs of contraband cigarettes were seized, transported in a truck from Bogotá bound for Ipiales.
The cigarettes, valued at $4.594 million, were being brought into the country without the corresponding legal documentation.
During this operation, two people involved in the illegal transport of this merchandise were arrested.
In La Guajira, authorities also carried out an operation in a ranch between Maicao and Uribia, where they seized 30,000 packs of cigarettes without legal documentation, valued at $50 million.
This seizure is part of the actions to combat smuggling in the region.
Cooperation between the Dian, the Attorney General’s Office, the Transnational Crimes Investigative Unit, UICT and HSI were key to these operations.
The investigations made it possible to identify the routes and modes of operation of the smuggling networks, facilitating the capture of their members and the seizure of illegal merchandise.
In this context, the capture of five people in Cali and San Juan de Pasto stood out, who must answer to the authorities for the crimes of conspiracy and promoting smuggling.
Additional data
Between 2022 and 2023, 27,791 pairs of footwear were seized, valued at $3.6 million dollars.
These counterfeit goods, which cause damage to well-known brands, were destined for Ecuador, where their value tripled due to dollarization.
So far in 2024, authorities have seized 889,390 packs of illegal cigarettes, worth $3.14 million, and seized 1,059,659 packs valued at $2.945 million.
Authorities urge citizens to report any suspicious activity related to merchandise smuggling.
The Tax and Customs Police makes available the Anticontrabando line 159 and the email [email protected] to receive information confidentially.
