ZCZC
BFF-40
CHINA-TOBACCO-SMUGGLING
Internet, courier services increasingly used in tobacco smuggling: official
BEIJING, Dec. 28,2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – The Internet and courier services were increasingly used in the smuggling of tobacco products, including counterfeit ones, in China, as law enforcers stepped up fight against the illicit trade, a senior official said Friday.
Zhao Hongshun, deputy chief of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, told a press conference that the production and trade of counterfeit tobacco products have evolved with new features, like changing production sites frequently, Internet-based distribution and decentralized modes of transportation.
China’s tobacco authorities and public security agencies will launch a campaign targeting crimes related to tobacco products that are transported through courier services, Zhao said.
Between January and November 2018, a total of 363,000 cartons of fake cigarettes and 137,000 cartons of smuggled cigarettes were seized by law enforcers, Zhao said. A total of 6,306 suspects were detained, among whom 2,631 were subject to criminal prosecution.
During the same period, a total of 8,349 cases that involved fake cigarettes valued at more than 50,000 yuan (7,297 U.S. dollars) were investigated, up 53 percent compared with the same period in 2017, according to Zhao.
BSS/XINHUA/RQ/18:00HRS