The Customs Surveillance Service (, SVA) is a

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, integrated in the Spanish Tax Agency. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prosecution of cases involving contraband, illegal drugs, financial evasion and violations, money laundering, surveillance for financial police purposes and the provision of judicial police services. Its activities can be compared with United States agencies like the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

, or some of the

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...

History

Origins

The origin of the service goes back to the creation of a paramilitary organization (called in Spanish ''Resguardo'') to protect the monopoly of tobacco of the

Tabacalera Tabacalera was a Spanish tobacco company incorporated on March 5, 1945. In 1999, the company merged with SEITA of France to form Altadis which was later purchased by Imperial Tobacco. Its brands included Ducados and Fortuna Fortuna (, eq ...

(the oldest tobacco company in the world), a Spanish tobacco monopoly which was established in 1636. The primary duty of the ''Resguardo'' was to protect the monopoly that the State exercised over the tobacco, combatting smuggling since its trade was one of the primary sources of funds of the Spanish Royal Treasury between the seventeenth and the 18th centuries.

Recent history

Recent history of the service begins in 1944 with the creation of the ''Servicio Especial de Vigilancia Marítima y Terrestre de Tabacalera S.A.'' (Special Service of Maritime and Terrestrial Surveillance from Tabacalera) charged of preventing the tobacco contraband. In 1954 due to the ineffectiveness of the service its duties were assumed by the Spanish Treasury who reorganized the service and created the ''Servicio Especial de Vigilancia Fiscal'' (Special Service of Fiscal Surveillance), made up of military and civilian personnel, which assumed the task of fighting the contraband. In 1982 the service was reorganized under the ''Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera'' (Customs Surveillance Service) and its duties were broadened to include the investigation of economic crimes and the fight against illegal drugs, among other roles.

Activities

The most common duties of the SVA are regulated by the ''Royal Decree 319/1982'' and the ''Organic Law against contraband 12/1995''. Those are the investigation, discovery and prosecution of contraband violations throughout the nation, territorial waters and airspace. The force also has powers conferred by the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) regarding economic crimes, including the fight against corruption, fraud investigation in foreign trade and money laundering, among other roles. The SVA cooperates with international and European organizations such as the

European Anti-Fraud Office The European Anti-Fraud Office (commonly known as OLAF, from the ) is a body mandated by the European Union (EU) with protecting the Union's financial interests. It was founded on 28 April 1999, under the European Commission Decision 1999/352. ...

Europol Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating c ...

or the

World Customs Organization The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Notable projects include its collaboration with the WTO on trade facilitation and the implementation of the SAFE Framework of Standar ...

Organisation

Central Services

The Deputy Directorate of Customs Surveillance () is integrated into the Department of Customs and Special Taxes () of the Spanish Tax Agency of the

. The customs headquarters is in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Department of Customs and Special Taxes * Deputy Directorate of Customs Surveillance ** Section of Operations (''Subdirección General de Operaciones'') ** Section of Logistics (''Subdirección General de Logística'') * Section of Planning, Statistics and Coordination (''Subdirección General de Planificación, Estadística y Coordinación'') * Section of Customs Management (''Subdirección General de Gestión Aduanera'') * Section of Management and Control of Special Taxes (''Subdirección General de Gestión e Intervención de Impuestos Especiales'') * Section of Inspection and Investigation (''Subdirección General de Inspección e Investigación'') * Section of Chemicals and Technologies (''Subdirección General Químico-Tecnológica'') * Section of International Relations (''Subdirección General de Relaciones Internacionales'')

Territorial Services

Regional Operations Area *Operations Units *Maritime Bases *Air Bases

Armament and equipment

Air

The aircraft fleet consists of

CASA C-212 Aviocar The CASA C-212 Aviocar is a turboprop-powered STOL medium cargo aircraft designed and built by Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). It is designed for use by both civil and military operators. The C-212 was ...

maritime patrol aircraft and

MBB Bo 105 The Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105 is a light, twin-engine, multi-purpose helicopter developed by Bölkow of Ottobrunn, West Germany. It was the first light twin-engine helicopter in the world, and the first rotorcraft that could perform ...

, Dauphin and BK117 helicopters manufactured by

Eurocopter Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trade name, trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturer, helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopte ...

Maritime

The maritime component of the Customs Surveillance Service is one of the largest employed by the Spanish government with approximately 90 vessels in service. The maritime units of the service are classed as

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

auxiliary vessels ''(Decree 1002/1961, of maritime surveillance)''. * Special operations ships: 2 ships for special operations and counter-drug patrols. These ships have both a medium helicopter deck, long range interceptors and deployable pursuit boats (DPB), detention cells, etc. *High endurance ships: 18 of different classes. Equipped with deployable pursuit boats. *Medium endurance ships and high speed interception boats: 24 different classes. Depending on which class they are they carry deployable pursuit boats. *Others, including rigid inflatable boats, boats seized from smugglers and used by the service, etc.

Maritime special operations units

The special operations units of the Customs Maritime Service are responsible for tracking drug shipments from foreign points-of-origin and interdicting them in international waters, supported by the investigations of ground staff.

Ground forces

Most of the vehicles used are unmarked while some of them are marked, specially those deployed in airports and seaports or in specific operations. They also are equipped with mobile scanners for non-intrusive inspections. Investigation units have special equipment to accomplish their missions like thermal cameras, interceptions devices, etc.

Small arms

Spanish customs agents are armed with the 9mm Heckler & Koch USP Compact pistols and

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (, ) is a submachine gun developed in the 1960s by German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It uses a similar modular design to the Heckler & Koch G3, and has over 100 variants and clones, including selective fire, Se ...

submachine guns. Also 7.62mm MG3 and .50 caliber M2 machine guns are mounted on vessels.

Gallery

Image:Fulmar.JPG, SVA ''Fulmar''-class ship for counter-drug special operations Image:Alcaraván-I.JPG, ''Alcaraván''-class patrol ship ''Alcaraván IV'' Image:Rodman-55HJ SVA.JPG, ''Cormorán''-class (Rodman-55HJ) high speed interception boat ''Águila I'' Image:Arao SVA.JPG, ''Gerifalte''-class (Rodman-101) patrol ship ''Arao'' Image:HJ-VII.JPG, HJ-class high speed interception boat ''HJ-VII'' Image:Patrullero Fénix.JPG, ''Alcotán''-class high speed interception boat ''Fénix'' Image:Patrullero Alca.JPG, ''Gerifalte''-class patrol ship ''Alca'' Image:Abanto y Colimbo IV.JPG, Two SVA patrol vessels at Cartagena Naval Base

References

External links

Official web site of the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria)
Customs Surveillance Service equipment (In English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Servicio De Vigilancia Aduanera Customs services Financial regulatory authorities of Spain Anti-money laundering organizations Coast guards Border control Borders of Spain Spanish intelligence agencies