RUSSIAN FAKE CIGARS
February 1st, 2004
BY MARK ROWE
MORE than 4,000 fake Cuban cigars on sale in tobacco stores across in Moscow have been seized in an anti-counterfeit operation. Police from the economic crimes department of Russia's interior ministry confiscated a total of 20 counterfeit brands worth Roubles 2.8 million (US$1 million). They included fake Cohiba, Romeo Y Julieta, Partagas and Montecristo and contained excessive levels of toxins. Moscow officials estimate that all but 725,000 of the 5 million cigars smoked annually in Russia are fake.
MORE than 4,000 fake Cuban cigars on sale in tobacco stores across in Moscow have been seized in an anti-counterfeit operation. Police from the economic crimes department of Russia's interior ministry confiscated a total of 20 counterfeit brands worth Roubles 2.8 million (US$1 million). They included fake Cohiba, Romeo Y Julieta, Partagas and Montecristo and contained excessive levels of toxins. Moscow officials estimate that all but 725,000 of the 5 million cigars smoked annually in Russia are fake.
Full access to this article can be arranged with permission from the client that first ordered it. Please contact us to request access. Entries are uploaded to our archive at least one year after being published by a client – free access is restricted to International News Services journalists for background research only. The article date indicates when copy was filed to a client, not when posted to this archive. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.