[Intl-tobacco] One In Four Cigarettes Come From Bootleggers (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

One In Four Cigarettes Come From Bootleggers
Source: The Mirror, Saturday, 8/5/00


EXCLUSIVE

A QUARTER of the cigarettes smoked in Britain are smuggled into the
country.

The figure has soared from one in six to nearly one in four in just twelve
months.

And fears are growing that bootleggers will soon have half the market.

The growing racket, which is costing the Government hundreds of millions
of pounds in tax revenue, was revealed by empty cigarette packets
discarded at soccer grounds.

At IPSWICH, the number of smuggled smokes shot up from five per cent in
1999 to 21 per cent this year.

At LEEDS the total leapt from 18 per cent to 26 per cent and at WEST HAM
from 13 per cent to 21 per cent.

The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association, which carried out the survey, says
Britons now smoke 16.6 billion illegal cigarettes. Spokesman John
Carlisle, called the rise "breathtaking." He said: "We're talking about
vast numbers, with the middle classes also deciding they've had enough
paying so much tax on a packet of cigarettes.

"They've decided they're not going to switch from buying smuggled
cigarettes because the savings are so big."

Fellow TMA spokesman Bob Fenton said the smugglers could be beaten by
knocking pounds 1 off the tax.