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Spain's house of Congress has approved modification to the law concerning the smuggling of tobacco, which could result in a five year prison sentences for anyone found guilty of the most serious offences.
However, the same law also redefines the point when anyone caught by the authorities smuggling is considered to have committed an 'infraction' or a 'criminal offence'. The law currently states that only those found to be smuggling tobacco with a value in excess of 6'000 Euros will be deemed to have committed a criminal offence. The new law has revised the figure now to be 15'000 Euros of contraband before any criminal offence has been committed.
Anyone found guilty of smuggling tobacco of that amount or more could face up to 5 years in prison and be fined up to 6 times the value of the confiscated goods.
The Spanish Tobacco Business Association called the modification to the law as "disguised decriminalisation" and described how it may deter the most serious offenders, but encourage the practise as a whole given that anybody smuggling a lesser amount will now be treated more leniently.
Last month the authorities clamped down on a loophole exercised by cross-border workers who travelled between Gibraltar and Spain every day. Previously they were legally allowed to take their permitted amount of tobacco products every day, however now such workers are now only legally allowed to carry one carton of cigarettes per month across the border.