A growing global trade in black-market cigarettes is killing tens of thousands of people a year, causing huge healt
h problems and costing Governments billions of dollars, says a hard-hitting report just released.
A staggering 657 billion cigarettes a year are sold illicitly by organised crime gangs, half of all tobacco sold in some countries is contraband, and £24.6 billion ($62.8 billion) in taxes are never paid, it says.
Inefficient law enforcement, lax border controls and corruption among police and Government officials mean smugglers find it easier to move large consignments of stolen or counterfeit cigarettes in the developing world.
More than five million people a year die worldwide from tobacco use, and about 80 per cent of all smokers live in developing countries.
For full article, please see New Zealand Herald.
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