An excellently organized operation to identify businesses that evade taxes and/or sell adulterated and smuggled drinks, took place from Wednesday to Friday, in Corfu.

Tax and customs auditors of the Independent Public Revenue Authority participated, with the assistance of men from the Greek Police.

The inspection teams landed at the southernmost point of the island, Kavos, which is known for wild parties, under the influence of alcohol, of English and other tourists.

This is an area which is informally considered uninhabited, as a result of which no checks of any kind have been carried out for many years.

How the business was set up

This is an operation that was coordinated by the AADE Operations Room, while the AADE commander, Giorgos Pitsilis, had previously communicated with the Minister of Citizen Protection, Yiannis Oikonomou, and the Chief of Police.

The inspectors raided several bars and restaurants in the area simultaneously, asking to see, the tax officials if receipts are cut and passed on, and the customs officials if the drinks served are clean and not adulterated or smuggled.

Throughout the operation, AADE staff were in direct communication with the inspectors through the Operations Room and monitored the progress of the inspections, receiving real-time videos and photos of the findings.

From the controls, the following were found:

26 catering businesses did not issue at least 40,578 receipts, with a total value of 267,418 euros

2 catering businesses did not send 1,204 receipts, with a total value of 8,252 euros

7 catering establishments served drinks that did not have lot number markings, so these are contraband and/or ‘bombs’. In fact, 8 samples were taken, the contents of which have already been sent to the State General Chemistry.

They are served shots of drinks from other glasses

Typical are the cases of bars, in which the auditors found that they collect what is left in the glasses of the patrons, pour them into a barrel, and from there serve the tourists shots!

These businesses were closed for 48 hours and fines were imposed.

Checks continue in other tourist areas.