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Article: Revealed: pounds 2bn cost to UK from cigarette smuggling A small town on the Ukrainian-Polish border is the epicentre of a fast- growing contraband industry, which is leeching money from taxpayers, industry and the Government, writes Jonathan Sibun
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- August 30, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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His gloved hands thick with coal dust, the customs guard pulls
out a carton of Classics cigarettes and drops it to the floor.
Reaching into the coal scuttle, another pack follows and another,
until the floor of the carriage is soon a mess of coal and smuggled
cigarettes.
The guard and his colleagues are searching the train looking for
contraband goods, unscrewing ceiling boards and walls, removing
curtain rails and searching the coal scuttles at the end of each
carriage. They will make other discoveries before the Prague-bound
train is allowed to move on.
At the Ukrainian-Polish border town of Przemysl, the seizure of
4,500 cigarettes hardly solicits a reaction. The border guards know
the ...