Operation SIROCCO
40 million cigarettes seized in joint customs operation
Around 40 million cigarettes, 1 243kg of hand-rolled tobacco, 7 038 litres of alcohol and 8 million other counterfeit items including clothing, shoes, toys and electronics, were seized during a joint customs cooperation, coordinated by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Operation SIROCCO, which also led to the arrest of 3 suspected cigarette traffickers, was a joint project carried out by the EU and 11 partner countries from the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The final results of this operation, which was conducted in June 2010, were made public the 1st October 2010 at a meeting in Amman, Jordan.
from left to right :
- Mr Mahmoud Wafa, Deputy Director General of the Jordan Customs;
- Mr Louis Smeets, European Anti-fraud Office\OLAF - Acting Head of Unit C3;
- Mr Guido Sterckx, Director of Belgian Customs and representative for the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council
Mr Fawaz, Director of investigation in the Jordan Customs
Download pictures in high resolution
- Press Release - from the European Commission
- Memo