The contraband of tobacco products internationally has attracted little interest on a media level, although it constitutes an important and increasing form of revenue for a variety of illicit actors, be they organized crime figures, terrorists or extremist sects. In contrast to narcotics trade or human trafficking, tobacco smuggling constitutes no obvious social threat; nevertheless, these activities are conducted by the same people who run the bulk of other dangerous illicit trades, while fueling governmental corruption in developing nations.
Evidence from many countries suggests that organized crime syndicates amass capital needed to organize a systemic flow of narcotics by investing in tobacco smuggling. The increase in tobacco taxation in most countries makes that trade rather easy to be conducted and yields substantial profits with far lower risks of imprisonment than other more well-known illegal activities. Globally tobacco smuggling is worth 50 up to 80 billion euros. In the E.U. market, the commercial price differences for tobacco products can reach up to 400 percent from lowest to highest price, thus the profits involved are a great lure for all sorts of smugglers.
According to reports by EUROPOL, smuggling of cigarettes and tobacco products is prominent in the regional triangle between Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Small groups of people bring tobacco from these two continental countries into the United Kingdom, which has high taxes and the potential for large profit.
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