Return of the 'winstoneros'

Wednesday, 01 February 2012 10:31

Written by Editor

While contraband in cigarettes is common in the Gibraltar area, it was practically wiped out two years ago in the rest of Spain. But the economic crisis has brought the so-called ‘winstoneros’ (after the popular Winston brand) out of the woodwork again, to the extent that the Guardia Civil and tobacconists estimate that the illegal sale of cigarettes is at the same level as in 1992  – one of the worst years for tobacco smuggling. Since last January the Guardia Civil and Customs Police have seized more than 740,000 cartons of cigarettes in operations in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Seville, Madrid, Barcelona and Galicia and arrested more than 30 people for tax evasion. Meanwhile, tobacconists sold 3,015 million packets of cigarettes last year, down from 4,514 million in 2008. “We're both selling the same cigarettes,” one tobacconist said. “It's just that the smugglers aren't paying the taxes.”