Overview

• Around 100 officers from German Customs and Stuttgart prosecutors searched some 20 buildings in Stuttgart, Rems-Murr-Kreis, Esslingen and Sinsheim.
• Officials uncovered three clandestine waterpipe tobacco production sites during the sweep.
• Authorities seized roughly 400 kg of finished shisha tobacco, 500 kg of raw ingredients, 500 liters of substitutes and large quantities of packaging.
• Investigators arrested the suspected ringleader of a five-man gang and placed him in pretrial detention on charges of organized tax evasion.
• The operation caused an estimated €1.5 million in unpaid duties and investigators are probing links to a 2023 smuggling case.