Spanish police said Tuesday they had broken up a criminal gang running a multi-million-euro fraud that dodged import and carbon taxes on the sale of refrigerated greenhouse gases.

In a series of raids, police arrested 27 suspects and seized 110 tonnes of different kinds of gas worth 11 million euros.

The gang specialised in the "illegal traffic in greenhouse gas refrigerants" that damage the ozone layer, said a police spokesman.

The gang brought the gases in from China at the port of Valencia on Spain's east coast, passing it off as being intended for other destinations such as Jordan, said the statement.

In fact, the refrigerant gases stayed in Spain and were sold in various regions across the country.

The gang exploited the fact that European businesses have the right to transit goods imported from non-EU countries through EU territory -- where they are intended for a third country -- without having to pay customs duties.

They set up a ghost company in Portugal that was the fictional recipient of the gases from Spain, in case customs agents inspected their goods, said the police statement.

The gas was in fact being sold on the black market in Spain at about three times less than the normal market price.

The gang had got out of paying import duty and paying the tax applied to the European market for carbon quotas, as well as a Spanish tax on greenhouse gas refrigerants.

Spain's treasury estimates that the fraud cost the taxpayer 3.5 million euros in tax revenue.

Related Links
Carbon Worlds - where graphite, diamond, amorphous, fullerenes meet

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

New carbon form has good potential
Beijing (XNA) Jun 21, 2022
Chinese scientists have synthesized a new form of carbon known as monolayer polymeric fullerene, which has exhibited good crystallinity and stability that would make it a useful material candidate for electronics, catalysts and quantum computing, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. Fullerene, sometimes referred to as "buckyballs", is a cage-like structure made of 60 connected carbon atoms that resembles the shape of a hollow soccer ball. Despite its complex for ... read more