Europol Climate is right for increased tobacco smu

As a consequence, Europol warns that “cheaper and smuggled products also constitute a marked threat to EU efforts on tobacco control, and by extension the objective of reducing consumption.”
In recent years, according to Europol’s 2011 Organized Crime Threat Assessment , EU nations have seen three predominant forms of cigarette smuggling: the smuggling of genuine cigarettes; the covert manufacturing and smuggling of “cheap whites”; and the sale of ########d commercial brands, mainly from China and the former Soviet states.
According to Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, tobacco smuggling in the EU will worsen. This is because it’s now easier for clandestine and low-cost manufacturers to import raw tobacco, rather than a container of more conspicuous packaged cigarettes. This has given rise to new, illegal factories in EU states such as Poland and some Baltic States.
Compared with drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling is seen by organized crime groups as a low-risk, high-profit deal. No wonder then that Europol now estimates the crime costs European Union nations around $12 billion each year Monster Headphones Cigarettes defective, family says in death lawsuit, and expects even more smuggling in the coming years.
The most popular “cheap whites” brand is Jin Ling, produced in massive quantities in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. Jin Ling was among the brands highlighted in a 2009 series Tobacco Underground noise cancelling headphones, produced by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Jin Ling has captured 20 percent of Germany’s tobacco black market, Europol said.
China, the world’s leading tobacco products producer, remains the largest source of contraband tobacco. Knock-off brands of cigarettes such as Chinese-made Marlboro arrive in European Union nations via ocean transports that stop at ports Monster Butterfly by Vivienne, many in the United Arab Emirates, for reloading in free-trade zones.
Also, there is a robust trade – via the Baltic Sea region – of genuine low-cost cigarettes produced in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova and targeted for western countries with high tobacco taxes.