IRELAND REMAINS one of the “preferred destinations” in the EU for cigarette smuggling because of its comparatively high taxes on tobacco, a new report into criminal activity in the union has found. Europol, the agency that handles criminal intelligence within the union, published its EU Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2011 yesterday. It covers a wide range of criminal activity, including the drugs trade, illegal immigration, human trafficking, fraud, counterfeiting, property and environmental crime and weapons trafficking. Europol says the “outstanding” feature of its latest assessm ... Jump to full article >>

Nearly half the cigarettes sold in Hong Kong are illegal because of high prices, a tobacco concern group claims. The finding was based on an informal “survey” carried out by the Vote Against Tax Hikes Alliance, which rummaged through dozens of trash bins in Lok Fu and Lam Tin public housing estates last month, picking up empty cigarette packages. Of the 200 boxes retrieved, 92 were either from the mainland, or on which duty was not paid. “High tobacco taxes are forcing more people to turn to illicit cigarettes, because regular cigarettes are too expensive and because it is di ... Jump to full article >>

A BRAZEN smuggling gang has been caught dealing deadly counterfeit cigarettes – just months after they were exposed on TV. Shocking pictures show crook John Scullion back at Ayr market peddling tobacco after he was named and shamed in a BBC Scotland investigation in January. Cheeky Scullion and his cronies openly sold “illicit whites” – tobacco from China with 30 times more lead than normal cigarettes – at Ayr Sunday market on April 17. The images were taken by former Metropolitan Police officer Bob Fenton during an undercover swoop on tobacco smugglers, who rob t ... Jump to full article >>

Manuel Garcia, a long-time vice-president of Cuba’s cigar industry, has been arrested and 10 of his staffers may face trial for corruption, according to the British news magazine The Economist. In a report posted Thursday on its Web site, the newsweekly reported Garcia, the No. 2 at Habanos S.A., has been in jail since August, “accused of mastermind graft on a grand scale.” Cuban investigators believe Garcia and 10 of his staffers, “who also face trial,’’ were accepting bribes in exchange for selling Cuban cigars at a discount to black market distributors in the Caribbean, The Ec ... Jump to full article >>

MORE than 25,000 cigarettes have been seized from an eastern European store in Ross-on-Wye. Acting on intelligence, the store was visited by Herefordshire Council’s trading standards team, West Mercia Police and HM Revenue and Customs. They found that UK duty tax had not been paid on 25,740 cigarettes and 14.55 kilogrammes of hand rolling tobacco that were found in the store. “Cheap tobacco and cigarettes can be identified by the price and that they don’t display the legal health warnings,” said Leah Wilson, a Herefordshire Council trading standards officer. “A typical brand of 20 c ... Jump to full article >>

No one gets between Coroberto Cordero and his weed. That’s what the assault suspect told cops after he was busted for stabbing a straphanger with a pen because she objected to his smoking, court papers show. “I was just trying to light my blunt and the b—- wouldn’t leave me alone, so I hit her,” Cordero told transit cops, according to the documents released Wednesday. Cordero, 35, faces felony assault and marijuana possession charges – and up to seven years behind bars – for the Tuesday attack on a southbound No. 3 near Chambers St. Evelyn Seeger, 45, ... Jump to full article >>

The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) is warning consumers to be wary of free trial offers for electronic cigarettes. Customers who tried to take advantage of “free” Internet offers for smokeless cigarettes say they were burned by unexpected charges that totaled $100 or more. The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) is warning consumers to be wary of free trial offers for electronic cigarettes. Customers who tried to take advantage of “free” Internet offers for smokeless cigarettes say they were burned by unexpected charge ... Jump to full article >>

Charges of possession of illegal cigarettes were withdrawn against nine men in Mpumalanga after a 33-year-old confessed, police said on Tuesday. The men appeared in the Malelane Magistrate’s Court on Monday to face charges of dealing in illegal imported goods. Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Hlathi said Ernesto Tivhani, a Mozambican national, told the court his alleged accomplices were innocent. “I can confirm that the case against all the nine men was temporary withdrawn following the confession,” said Hlathi. Tivhani was remanded in custody pending his next court appearance on Wednesda ... Jump to full article >>

CUSTOMS have seized the biggest haul of smuggled cigarettes at Tilbury Port in the past decade. Officers from HM Revenue & Customs seized 37 million cigarettes at the port. The cigarettes, smuggled in to avoid paying duty, are through to be worth around £8.5million in unpaid tax and VAT. They were brought in from Dubai, hidden in flat pack furniture containers. Following the seizure Chris Martin, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC said: “Cigarette smugglers don’t care about the impact their actions have on legitimate retailers. “This attempt to flood the UK with ... Jump to full article >>

As we head to the polls in May, Albertans must consider an issue that impacts every Canadian, yet is virtually ignored by the federal government — the illegal contraband tobacco trade. It’s a problem from coast to coast, and Alberta is especially at risk, having experienced a steep rise in illegal manufacturing, distribution and contraband tobacco use over the past few years. While the recent seizure of 14 million illegal cigarettes at the Montana First Nation near Hobbema by the Alberta government is a step in the right direction, the issue is far from resolved. The First Nations manufac ... Jump to full article >>

A HAULAGE firm boss who tried to smuggle more than three million cigarettes through Dover has been jailed. Mamode Rafiq Allyman, 56, who runs Chatham-based Allyman Haulage, was stopped in July 2009 as he drove a lorry off a ferry from Calais. A search by the UK Border Agency uncovered 1,888,800 Raquel and 1,307,600 Gold Classic branded cigarettes in shrink-wrapped brown boxes. Allyman, of Copenhagen Road, Gillingham, first told officers he had loaded the trailer in Holland, but after the haul was found said he had swapped trailers with another driver. The duty due on the tobacco was estimated ... Jump to full article >>