Customs police in Italy have dismantled the country’s largest ever illegal cigarette factory, seizing more than 150 tonnes of counterfeit cigarettes in a raid near Cassino, southeast of Rome.
The massive 1,600-square-metre underground facility, described as a “genuine industrial factory,” was hidden beneath a logistics warehouse and accessed through a sophisticated hydraulic mechanism that concealed the bunker.
Investigators said the site had three tobacco processing and packaging lines, capable of producing more than seven million cigarettes daily — about 2.7 billion a year.
The bunker was fitted with ventilation systems to mask emissions, and makeshift accommodations with 18 beds, showers, bathrooms, and a dining area for workers. A workshop for machine repairs was also discovered.
Authorities estimate the factory’s annual revenue at over €900 million ($1.05 billion), with around €600 million in evaded taxes. Several suspects have been identified and one person arrested so far.
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