Iserlohn (dpa / lnw) – Customs investigators and the police have dug up an illegal cigarette factory in Iserlohn, Sauerland. The customs investigation office in Essen announced on Thursday that 13 people had been arrested. The officers seized 40 tons of untaxed tobacco, about 20,000 cartons of cigarettes and another five cubic meters of cigarettes, a production line and a packaging line.
The production, which was hidden in a former wholesale market, was exposed by a false alarm from a fire alarm system. The fire brigade and police in Hagen found large quantities of tobacco and cigarettes instead of a fire. The public prosecutor’s office and customs investigators were turned on.
