Overview
- Investigators searched nine properties across Lower Saxony and Hesse in coordinated actions on Wednesday.
- About 100 officers, including a customs special unit, took part in the operation, according to investigators.
- Seizures included 37,500 untaxed cigarettes, €12,500 in cash, a money-counting machine, smartphones and other evidence.
- Two men aged 43 and 47 and a 31-year-old woman were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention by a judge.
- Authorities estimate the tax loss from the alleged trade at more than €7 million, with storage sites identified in Detmold and Lemgo.