EU to crack down on cigarette smuggling

Brussels is mobilizing itself to cope with smugglers of cigarettes, which are causing annual losses of around €7 billion. The dam on the road to the EU smuggling will be developed in Poland, where in 2009 authorities seized 750 million cigarettes, which is 100 million more than in the preceding year.
However, this is only the tip of an iceberg as Poland is also the main distribution center of cigarettes floating from the East to the European Union countries. The stakes are high as each successful shipment of a container of cigarettes with 100,000 packs means net earnings of zł.2 million for the smugglers.
"Tobacco products are on the top of the smuggling list in the EU. International gangs see it as more beneficial than drugs.
Profits are comparable, penalties lower, while there is social approval in some countries," said Piotr Dziedzic from the Finance Ministry.