Smuggled cigarettes worth Euro 1,4 mln seized in Durres Port

TIRANA, July 30 – Durres Port customs officials have seized thousands of cartons of smuggled cigarettes, worth more than 1 million euro. The General Customs Directorate says port authorities seized last week, 35,000 cartons of cigarettes worth Euro 1.4 million hidden in an expected cargo of 700 doors in a container coming from China. Officials say the person who had ordered the cargo was trying to avoid taxes worth 40 million lek (Euro 285,000.)
Customs officials said the seized cigarettes of the Marlboro brand carried inscriptions ‘Made in Italy’ and ‘For duty free shop sale only.’
Consuming so-called “original” cigarettes without the Finance Ministry tax stamps could be really dangerous because of the unsafe conditions they are produced, the Customs Administration warns citizens.
Finance Ministry data show Albania imported some 1.418 tonnes of cigarettes during the first five months of this year, which is up 40 percent compared to the same period in 2011.
Since Jan.1 2011, the excise tax on a 20-ciggarette pack rose to 70 lek, up from 50 lek previously.