Estonian tax, customs workers detect 2.7 mln illegal cigarettes in 2 months

Photo: MTA

Workers of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board found altogether more than 2.7 million illegal cigarettes in January and February, over 500,000 cigarettes more than during the same period last year.

A follow-up media campaign began last week introducing the possibility, among other things, to inform the tax and customs authority about trading in illegal cigarettes anonymously with the help of a mobile application, spokespeople for the Tax and Customs Board told BNS.

They said that in addition to the previous cooperation partner, the Estonian Association of Tobacco Manufacturers, the campaign is backed also by Philip Morris Eesti OU.

If the campaign in January informed the people about criminal activity going hand in hand with trade in illegal cigarettes using posters and radio ads, then the follow-up campaign focuses on online environments.

The goal is to raise above all the awareness of the people living in border areas of the size of the black market for cigarettes and the flow of unpaid tax money into criminal activity. Within the campaign's framework people are explained that tolerating such activity has a direct impact on their own safety and the safety of their close ones.

The campaign is centered around the message that criminals earn more than 40 million euros a year on the average by selling cigarettes bypassing the Estonian tax system. "What could be done with that money? A lot. What is done with it? Dreadful. Small violations support big crimes," the campaign slogan reads.