657 billion cigarettes a year sold on black market

Beijing News.Net
Saturday 4th July, 2009

The global tobacco industry is under attack from pirates that are ripping the heart out of cigarette sales.

Representatives from 130 countries gathered in Geneva this week to discuss the problem.

The International Union against Tobacco and Lung Disease says says organized crime has infiltrated the industry, and the situation is so bad that one in 9 cigarettes are sold illegally.

This equates to 657 billion smokes annually.

In tax revenue alone the cost is in excess of $40 billion.

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