MASSIVE RISE IN CIGARETTE SMUGGLING

Customs officers estimate that two thirds of all tobacco now sold in
Britain is contraband By Mike Merritt

Every second packet of cigarettes and two thirds of all tobacco sold in the
UK has been smuggled into the country to avoid duty.

Customs and Excise has revealed that proportion of illicit stocks of
cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco has risen by 20% over the last two
years, an explosion fuelled in part by rising taxes.

One of the main gateways for smuggled consignments is Glasgow airport,
which is being used increasingly by organised crime gangs from the
north-east of England.

Once the tobacco is in to the country the smugglers use a network of
unscrupulous traders to sell the tobacco on to the public.

Now the government is planning a crackdown on the trade, with details to he
announced in the next fortnight. It is concerned that the wave of smuggled
tobacco is not only robbing the Treasury of hundreds of millions of pounds
of income every year but also undermining efforts to reduce smoking among
teenagers.

Customs investigators believe under-age smokers are one of the main targets
of the smugglers because illicit supplies are both affordable and readily
available.

Adult smokers are also being tempted, however. A recent survey by the
pollsters NOP found that one in every five smokers had bought cheap
under-the-counter cigarettes. Small tobacconists and corner shops attracted
by huge profit margins, along with street markets, are the main source of
supplies.

The current price of a packet of 20 cigarettes is around UKP3.42 of which
up to 80% is tax. Two years ago under half of the tobacco sold in the
country was smuggled in, but the proportion has now soared to 67%.

The dramatic rise coincides with tax increases amounting to 4lp a packet in
the last two budgets. But it also comes at a time when organised criminals
are switching away from drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy and into
tobacco.

Not only can the trade be more profitable, but the penalties, if the
criminals are caught, are much less severe than for drug smuggling.

"We now believe that two-thirds of tobacco sold in the UK has been smuggled
into avoid duty - and that is 20% more than two years ago," said a Customs
and Excise spokesman.

Evidence of the increase in smuggling has emerged at Glasgow airport where
seizures doubled in the year ending last March. Customs officers admit
however; that the 2.3 million illegal cigarettes they found on passengers
at the airport - up from 1.2 million the year before -was only a fraction
of what they believe was smuggled through in suitcases.

The amount dwarfs the 600,000 cigarettes that were confiscated at other
Scottish airports.

There are fears that crime syndicates from the north-east of England using
Glasgow as a route to smuggle duty-free cigarettes from the Canary Islands
- - one of the main centres for the trade.

The gangs are concentrating on regional airports because of the high number
of charter flights that use them.

Couriers from the crime gangs fly out of airports such as Newcastle and
return through Glasgow to try and avoid detection.

The rise in illicit cigarettes mirrors the increase in supplies of bootleg
alcohol reaching Britain after the relaxation of EU rules governing trade.

At the moment, passengers coming from EU countries, where some duty has
been paid on tobacco, are allowed 800 cigarettes. Passengers carrying
higher quantities have to prove they are for personal use.

Customs men believe Scotland is also being targeted because it has a higher
number of smokers than England. "In effect it is a ready and willing
market," said the spokesman.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)