The Portuguese authorities, in partnership with the British, have been running a joint operation in several parts of the Algarve to detect tobacco and booze tax and customs ‘irregularities.’
The Fiscal Action Unit from Faro GNR said that Operation Guardian involved the Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, supported by the GNR and Coastal Command.
The operation has been focusing on access roads to Faro Airport, areas along the land border with Spain, boats, restaurants and bars, where thousand foreign citizens have been handed leaflets about combating tax evasion and customs fraud.
According to the GNR, in the period up to Christmas, "there is a greater volume of illegal transactions, between Portugal and the United Kingdom, of goods subject to VAT and special consumption taxes, such as alcoholic drinks and, mainly, tobacco."
Inspections were made of 412 vehicles, 33 shops and several boats, resulting in 42 offences, including the lack of a tax stamp on bottles of alcohol, irregularities over invoices and delivery notes and fuel fraud.
Twelve foreign registration vehicles were seized, valued at €129,000, as they had overstayed the time legally allowed in the country, currently 183 days but, after Brexit, this will reduce to three months total in Schengen countries.