20,231 Wine Bottles Without Tax Labels Seized From Illegal Operation That Took Place in ‘Hidden’ Room

A huge haul of fraudulent wine has been seized from an illegal operation in Spain. (Photo: Bruno Cantuária/Pexels)

A booze raid in Spain has resulted in approximately 20,231 bottles of wine being seized. According to The Olive Press, the bottles were all missing official tax labeling.

The raid followed a tip from the Barcelonan Guardia Civil (the Civil Guard), one of Spain’s national police forces. It was discovered that retail outlets in Catalonia were selling wine without tax labels, reported The Olive Press. The Civil Guard and tax authority officers visited an unnamed warehouse in the Marina Alta area where the wine was being distributed from.

In addition to wine missing proper tax seals, bottles were also found to be declaring false batch and capacity information, per the report.

The Olive Press reported that the illegal operation was carried out in a “hidden” room located close to the warehouse. It was estimated that the retail value of the seized wine was €139,000 ($145,852.70), with €30,000 ($31,479) calculated in unpaid taxes.

Due to the scale of the wine bottle tax scam, a second phase has been set in motion in order to track down locations selling the illicit wine, per The Olive Press.

At the time of reporting, the number of people facing charges over the bootleg booze operation is unknown.

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