Two arrested as Spanish swoop on smuggling operation

Another dispatch from the new frontline, this time on the European dimension to smuggling. Spanish police have arrested two men in connection with a shipment of half a million cartons of smuggled cigarettes. RTÉ briefly noted it yesterday as did others, but the BBC report identifies them as a 32-year-old man from Dublin and a 42-year-old man from Lisburn, and all report them as suspected members of the Real IRA. While the Irish Times[subs req] ends by noting

The arrests are the culmination of a two-year European police investigation into arms dealing, tobacco smuggling and money laundering to finance terrorist activities. Their findings led them to the Spanish Mediterranean coast, particularly the Costa del Sol and Malaga region.

Update More in The Times report

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