Customs police: illegal cigarette production becoming an organized cross-border business

Latvia's Tax and Customs Police (NMP) warn that illegal cigarette manufacturing has grown into a serious, well-organized problem not only in Latvia but across the European Union. This is confirmed both by international research and by several illegal factories uncovered in Latvia in recent times.

Cross-border cooperation

According to the police, organized crime groups in Latvia and neighboring countries maintain close ties, forming a cross-border network for producing and smuggling illegal cigarettes. As a result, law enforcement agencies in different countries regularly exchange information to counter such crimes. Over the past year, the NMP has launched several large-scale criminal proceedings, during which significant quantities of illegal cigarettes, tobacco raw materials, and other production equipment were seized.

Truck detained in Lithuania

Lithuania's customs service recently stopped a truck arriving from Latvia carrying an estimated half a million packs of illegal cigarettes, valued at around 2.4 million euros. Lithuanian officials suspect the cigarettes may have been produced at a covert factory in Latvia. The NMP is so far declining to comment on whether this shipment is linked to an illegal cigarette factory recently uncovered in Grobiņa, as the investigation is still ongoing.

According to Lithuanian customs data, almost seven million packs of smuggled cigarettes were confiscated in the country last year, with most of them entering from Latvia. Investigators say the covert factories counterfeit both well-known international tobacco brands and Belarusian cigarettes.