Metasa

Metasa
Native name
Mercury Tabacos S.A.
Company typePublic company
IndustryCigarette production
GenreTobacco
FoundedJanuary 28, 2004 (2004-01-28)
FounderRoberto W. Escobar González
Headquarters
Ciudad del Este
,
Paraguay
Area served
Multinational
ProductsClassic, Ouro Fino, Polo Club, Silver, Rainbow, Suave
Websitehttps://www.mercury.com.py/

Mercury Tabacos S.A., also known as Metasa,[1] is a Paraguayan company known for the production of cigarettes.

History

Metasa was created on 28 January 2004 in the city of Asunción by Roberto W. Escobar González. Their headquarters are located in Ciudad del Este.[2]

Products

Metasa fabricates the following cigarette brands: Classic, Ouro Fino, Polo Club and Silver.[3] They export much of the fabricated cigarettes.[4] In the United States, the company owns the brands Rainbow and Suave.[5] They have international factories, including in the city of Alto Paraná, Brazil.[4]

Metasa buys cigarettes from Tabesa, company once owned by the president Horacio Cartes, and it was its main client from 2017 to 2021.[6]

Irregularities

In 2009, their tobacco package health warning was invalidated due administrative reasons, but the matter was solved with the change of the package pictures.[7][8]

Metasa is allegedly one of the biggest companies profting with cigarette smuggling in countries such as Brazil and Argentina.[2][4][9] Multiple cases of cigarette apprehensions have happened since Metasa creation.[10][11][12]

Metasa was tied to Rubens Catenacci,[2] convicted in 2008 for laundering money in the doleiro Alberto Youssef scheme.[13] He controlled 80% of the company's assets.[14] In 2022, Metasa was tied to the senator Erico Galeano, accused of laundering money from narcotraffic.[15] According to the Paraguayan Secretariat of Money and Goods Laundry, on 10 March 2022, Metasa received ₲ 852,537,303 as compensation for the exit of Galeano from the company. He controlled 1% of the company's assets.[16] The Paraguayan Public Prosecutor's Office accused Metasa of smuggling and money laundry.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Boletin de Informaciones AL" (PDF). Dirección Nacional de Propriedad Intelectual (in Spanish). Gobierno Nacional de Punta del Leste. 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Informe de inteligencia Financiera n° 08/2022" (PDF). Secretariat of Money and Goods Laundry (in Spanish). Paraguayan Government. 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Productos". Metasa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Alvares, Lília (2018). "A rede transfronteiriça do contrabando de cigarros: Entre Salto del Guará-Paraguai e Guaíra-Brasil entre 1970 a 2016" (PDF). Masters Degree in Geography (in Brazilian Portuguese). Western Paraná State University. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  5. ^ "Mercury Tabacos S.A." United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 1 March 2025.
  6. ^ "Conexión de Erico y Cartes bajo sospecha de red de lavado y tráfico" (in Spanish). Ultima Hora. 14 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  7. ^ Cunningham, Rob (2022). "Tobacco package health warnings: a global success story" (PDF). Tobacco Control. 31. BMJ Group: 272–283. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056560. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  8. ^ "Unión Tabacalera del Paraguay, et al. v. Paraguay". Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay (in Spanish). 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  9. ^ "Contrabando de cigarrillos se convirtió en mal endémico para países limítrofes" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 22 September 2024. Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  10. ^ "Incautan cigarrillos de Tabesa" (in Spanish). ABC Color. 15 February 2018. Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Incautan más de 40 millones de cajetillas de cigarrillo de contrabando" (in Spanish). Última Hora. 5 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  12. ^ Ortega, Carlos (5 February 2020). "Seis condenados a 4 años de carcél por megacontrabando de cigarrillos" (in Spanish). ABC Color. Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  13. ^ Olinda, Caroline (15 December 2008). "Doleiros envolvidos com contas CC-5 são condenados" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Gazeta do Povo. Archived from the original on 1 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  14. ^ "Cartes, de empresario exitoso a significativamente corrupto" (in Spanish). Última Hora. 16 April 2023. Archived from the original on 1 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  15. ^ "Fiscalía investiga por presunto contrabando y lavado a tabacalera que estuvo ligada a Erico" (in Spanish). El Observador. 11 September 2024. Archived from the original on 1 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  16. ^ "Informe sobre Galeano señala nexo con condenado por lavado de dinero" (in Spanish). Última Hora. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  17. ^ "Una causa más para Erico" (in Spanish). El Paraguayo Independiente. 11 September 2024. Archived from the original on 1 March 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
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