The Guardia Civil in Tenerife have arrested 12 men who formed an organized gang who smuggled fake cigarettes into the Canary Islands. The cigarettes, made in China, were found to contain a high proportion of rabbit excrement which padded out the tobacco. The cigarettes were sold in bars and shops mainly in the south of the island.

Operación Chester is the largest counterfeit tobacco operation this year in Spain. One and a half million packets of false cigarettes with a street value of almost five million euros were seized. It is not known how many false packets have been sold but the value is expected to be millions of euros.

The operation started after the Guardia Civil started to receive a series of complaints from smokers about "terrible" cigarettes. Their investigations lead to the discovery of a supply chain that was mixing false cigs in with real ones to distributors across the island.

However, the success of the distribution network lead the crooks to extend their network and false packets have been found on mainland Spain and even in Andorra.

The false cigarettes were made in China before being shipped to Spain via the UAE. Apart from the rabbit excrement, they also contained dangerously high levels of nicotine, CO2 and heavy metals.

Amongst the arrested was a corrupt customs officer who allowed the shipments into the Canary Islands.