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The Customs Department reported 13.1 million seizures in the first nine months of this year. smuggled smokers packages, at that time in all of 2019: 6.8 million. packages. Nine-tenths of all the cigarettes seized are Belarusian.
“We were already preparing for this last fall, we began to train both analysts and we strengthened the operational work, because we had information that in the neighboring country there is actually a large surplus of tobacco products, many times greater than the number of smokers. that is there, and it will be clear that they will be transported in one way or another, ”G. Kulikauskas told BNS.
According to him, for some time the production capacity at the Grodno cigarette factory has been increased, another factory is being built, which has already started or will start production soon.
Photo by SBGS / Smuggled cigarettes hidden in jacket
According to officials, when the number of cigarettes increases, they must be sold somewhere, and Lithuania is very convenient for this activity, due to the geographical location and the difference in the price of cigarettes. Almost 60 percent. all smokers were arrested on the border with Belarus this year.
“The reason is simple: overproduction, the difference in price and the desire to earn money from the shadow securities of the neighboring country,” said a representative of the Criminal Customs Service.
The door to europe
According to G. Kulikauskas, although it is not clear exactly how, there is no doubt that part of the smokers imported into Lithuania are destined for the Western European market.
“Transit traffic constitutes an important part of the cargo transported, that is to the non-Lithuanian black market, however, Lithuania has a limited number of smokers, it does not increase so significantly per year as to increase for some reason, but because of the otherwise – decreases, “said the official.
According to him, there are more and more cases where cigarettes marked with Belarusian stamps are imported from Latvia or even from Königsberg, trying to find new ways to reach Europe further.
“We are at the gates of Europe and those loads are transported through us,” said G. Kulikauskas.
He said that smugglers have been forced to transport cigarettes through Lithuania for some time, but now the number of smokers seized in our country far exceeds those seized in other countries on the periphery of the European Union.
“They are looking for new paths, trying to show ingenuity, and we really feel like the custodians of the EU economic space, because they are passing through us and we are trying to avoid that transit as much as possible,” said the customs representative.
Although some of the smuggled cigarettes remain in our country, because here too the profits are important, when it enters Europe it is even greater.
“The bigger the trucks, the more trucks go to the West. The return is solid also in Lithuania, but in Germany or Great Britain it is even higher,” said G. Kulikauskas.
Serious opponents
According to a spokesperson for the customs forensic police, it is clear that smuggling organizers devote considerable technical capacity to illegal activities and can afford to invest in complex hiding places and sometimes suffer millions in losses.
Siauliai County LSC Photo / Contraband Cigarette Seizure
“By the nature of the hiding places or the camouflaged assets (…) we can conclude that this is actually done by a group of people who really have a solid technical offer, let’s say. We cannot name them as state or something else, but there are really impressive technical capabilities that are launched, to reach a certain technical level, to hide that smuggling, ”said G. Kulikauskas.
According to him, this year there are often cases when cigarettes are hidden in factory-made concrete blocks, inside them there are complex hiding places, on the floors of building boards.
“These are not urban or rural goldsmiths who invent and transport there, they are much more solid forces,” said the official.
During all these years, customs officials are also observing an increase in the volume of illegal cigarette shipments: in the past, they often found 100-200 boxes in trucks, now they are often faced with blindly loaded semi-trailers, they are transported 1000. with 1.5 thousand. boxes
Smuggled cigarette shipments worth a million euros and more have been reported more than once this year.
According to the Customs Department, more than 46 million people were detained in the first nine months of this year. the value of cigarette smuggling.
“This year is a year of challenges,” said G. Kulikauskas.
Necessary equipment and financing
According to the representative of the Criminal Customs Service, the number of smuggled cigarettes seized this year is almost the maximum: additional investments would be needed in both technical equipment and officials to achieve more.
“The motivation and the technical means of the officials would be the two things we can do to make those arrests even more impressive and open the door to that flow even more,” he said.
In particular, additional detection equipment is lacking in the search for smuggling by rail. They have been increasing in recent years.
“The most important thing in recent years is the inspection of rail transport, we really lack X-ray control systems. Imagine if you are transporting concrete blocks, construction slabs, you will not see it there with a simple drill or anything else” said G. Kulikauskas.
To ensure a complete inspection of the trains, customs officials would need at least four dedicated X-ray monitoring systems.
“So far we are translating the experience, intuition, operational actions and other means of the officers, but the technical measures would also be of great help to motivate the officers,” said a representative of the customs forensics.
He noted that there had been several incidents in which a customs officer was detained for contributing to smuggling, so an additional investment would not only limit the success of smuggling but would also provide more motivation to perform their duties.
In mid-October, customs officers detained a colleague who had worked at the Šalčininkai roadside post. In total, complaints of smuggling and abuse of service were filed this year by more than a dozen customs officials.
According to an “empty pack” study by the Nielsen company, illegal cigarettes currently account for about 22.4 percent of Lithuania’s cigarettes. markets. Last year, that number was one percentage point lower.
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