OLAF REPORT
December 1st, 2003
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud unit OLAF has told of the uncovering of a Baltic State centred cigarette smuggling ring. OLAF's 2002-3 annual report said this May police arrested 10 people and seized millions of counterfeit cigarettes. The ring was selling fake British brands, made and packaged by an illicit tobacco production plant. The report said seven suspects were arrested in the Netherlands, where 10.35 million cigarettes were seized, three Latvians were arrested in Germany; four million counterfeit cigarettes were seized in Belgium.
EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud unit OLAF has told of the uncovering of a Baltic State centred cigarette smuggling ring. OLAF's 2002-3 annual report said this May police arrested 10 people and seized millions of counterfeit cigarettes. The ring was selling fake British brands, made and packaged by an illicit tobacco production plant. The report said seven suspects were arrested in the Netherlands, where 10.35 million cigarettes were seized, three Latvians were arrested in Germany; four million counterfeit cigarettes were seized in Belgium.
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