Cigarette smuggling is just as big as cocaine trafficking

Cigarette smuggling alone costs the EU and its Member States €11 billion per year. A turn over which has reached that of heroin and cocaine. This is a business that in Europe involves between 100 thousand and 150 thousand people and causes serious damages to the economy, because of the the evasion of customs duties. An illegal traffic which is now in the hands of real criminal organizations with significant financial resources, as it is clear from an analysis by the Observatory on crime in agriculture promoted by Coldiretti about the action “Duty free” conducted by the Guardia di Finanza of Ancona. It is a serious damage for Italy too. Just think that, since the economic crisis, in the tobacco sector, it has caused a reduction of about 30 thousand workers and 500 thousand tons of product.

 

 

http://www.west-info.eu/cigarette-smuggling-is-just-as-big-as-cocaine-trafficking/