The police authorities seized, on Thursday, 8,021 liters of strawberry brandy in three “unauthorized” distilleries and warehouses in Loulé, Silves and Tavira, in the Faro district, the GNR announced on Friday.
The brandy seized “outside the production warehouse” would have a value of 257,469 euros and “its put up for consumption” would cause a loss of 97,050 euros to the Portuguese State in taxes (Special Consumption Tax and Value Added Tax), estimates the security force, in a statement.
The confiscation was made this Thursday by the Lighthouse Detachment of the Fiscal Action Unit (UAF) of the GNR in the scope of the operations “ARBUTUS III; IV and V”, which led to the identification of eight men and one woman, between the ages of 40 and 72, the facts having been communicated to the judicial courts of Silves, Tavira and Loulé, the note reads.
Also according to the GNR, the operations were carried out after “three investigations that had been ongoing for about a year”aimed at combating the “parallel circuit for the sale of arbutus brandy outside its production warehouse”.
It is about the practice of the “customs crime of fraudulent entry for consumption”, the authorities having “complied with 24 search warrants at three distilleries and seven unauthorized warehouses for deposit and without customs control, thus avoiding the tax obligations of declaration and payment of the incidental taxes”, indicates the GNR.
In addition to the 8,021 liters of strawberry brandy, adds the GNR, “two stills” used to make the drink, valued at about 3,000 euros, were seized.
The “main objective” of these actions was to ensure “compliance with legal provisions for the production, storage and sale of alcoholic beverages”, “combat the parallel economy in Portugal” and “guarantee hygienic-sanitary conditions” of production. , underlines the security force.
Source: Observadora
