From: Business Recorder, Pakistan’s Premier Financial Daily
Interpol launches its first-ever trafficking and counterfeiting casebook providing evidence of the connection between illicit trade and other types of organized crimes. The casebook details organised crime networks and how funds generated from illicit trade are used for other nefarious activities.
In Pakistan, one of the most trafficked commodities is cigarettes. Nearly 25.4 percent of all cigarettes sold are counterfeit, denying the exchequer Rs 26.9 billion in tax revenues annually. The legal minimum price for a packet of cigarettes is Rs 34.77, yet products available in the market cost as little as Rs 10.
“The criminal networks behind trafficking in illicit goods and counterfeiting are complex and pervasive,” said INTERPOL Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble. “The INTERPOL Trafficking and Counterfeiting casebook is the first publicly released study to provide comprehensive evidence of the clear connection between illicit trade and other types of organized crimes.”
