From: Flanders Today
by Alan Hope
Summary
Out of the millions of illicit cigarettes confiscated by customs officers in Belgium every year not all end up in the incinerator
Customs officers in Belgium seized no fewer than 262 million illicit cigarettes in 2015, or about 13.1 million packets of 20. An impressive result, but did you know that in some cases, the Customs service sells off some of those confiscated gaspers to third parties?
They come in two forms: counterfeits of major brands like Marlboro or Kent, and “cheap whites” – generic cigarettes of unheard-of brands, usually low in quality and price. The counterfeits are destroyed by burning; the cheap whites are sold to the public in countries outside the EU.
