ILLICIT TOBACCO TRADE BOOMING – GENERATING SWATHES OF ILLEGAL FUNDS

BY ALAN OSBORN,ANCA GURZU and KEITH NUTHALL THE GLOBAL trade in illicit tobacco is huge and growing and a significant source of dirty money worldwide. Tobacco multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) estimates that 6.3% of cigarettes worldwide are illicit products (either counterfeit, smuggled or sold domestically on the black market), which makes 332 billion sticks, and that is a lot of cigarettes. A report produced last summer by anti-tobacco group ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) for the talks surrounding a proposed World Health Organisation (WHO) ...


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