Fraud Statistics - Smuggling and Black Market Operations ​

Source: Havocscope - Global Black Market Information





​Global Cigarette Smuggling Value                              $50​.0 Billion 



Global Alcohol Smuggling Value                                $4.3 Billion 





Tax Losses to Cigarette Smuggling in South Africa
 

The Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa stated that cigarette smuggling in South Africa causes up to $1.3 Billion (12 Billion South African Rand) in tax revenue losses.

People in South Africa will smoke up to 8 billion cigarettes that were sold on the black market. Smuggled cigarettes account for 30 percent of the entire tobacco market in the country.

Source:  “Smuggled cigarettes cost R12bn in taxes,” fin24, November 5, 2012.



Cigarette Smuggling Rate in Bulgaria in 2012

The Bulgarian Customs Agency reported that the 15 percent of all cigarettes sold in Bulgaria in 2012 were sold on the black market as smuggled cigarettes. The number of cigarettes sold in the country that avoided taxes was down from 30 percent in 2010.
44 percent of the Bulgaria’s 7.4 million population smoke cigarettes.
Source:  AFP, “Contraband cigarettes smuggled in coffins in Bulgaria,” Google News, November 13, 2012.

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Alcohol and cigarette smuggling losses in Colombia

Alcohol smuggling in Colombia causes an estimated $300 Million in lost tax revenue for the government. Cigarette smuggling also causes $300 Million in lost tax revenue in Colombia.

Source:  Elyssa Pachico, “Colombia’s Illegal Booze Trade Causing Headaches,” InSight, October 7. 2011.



Black Market Cigarettes in Quebec and Ontario

A report by Phillip Morris International stated that sales of contraband cigarettes sold on the black market consists of 14.7 percent of all cigarettes sold in the Canadian Province of Quebec. In Ontario, the illegal cigarettes make up 27.2 percent of all tobacco sold.

Within the two provinces, authorities believe that there are up to 55 illicit cigarette factories that produce packs of cigarettes that are sold on Canada’s black market.

Source:  Tom Blackwell, “‘Surplus’ tobacco flooding the Canadian black market: RCMP,” National Post, November 4, 2012.



Profits from Cigarette Smuggling in Ireland

A cigarette smuggler transporting 50,000 cigarettes to be sold on the black market would make a profit of $11,227 (€8,700). A van would hold ten times the amount of cigarettes, thus leading to a profit of $112,000. A shipping container can hold up to 7,500,000 black market cigarettes, giving the smuggler a $1.6 Million ( €1.3 Million) profit.

Legitimate packs of cigarettes are sold for $12.90 (10 Euros)  a pack. Cigarettes sold by smugglers on the black market are sold for $5.1 (4 Euros) a pack.

Source:  “Illegal trade costs State €860m in lost revenue,” Independent.ie, October 28, 2012.



Alchol smuggling seizures in Norway

An estimated 415,000 liters of beer that was smuggled into Norway from other countries were seized in 2011.

Source: Jenny Sundelin, “Cheap Swedish beer gives Norway a headache,” The Local, January 6, 2012.

 

Profits from Cigarette Smuggling in Australia

​Custom officials in Australia state that shipping containers full of black market cigarettes are smuggled into the country. A single 40-foot container is able to hold around 10 million cigarettes.  The cigarettes are purchased overseas for $622,000 yo $830,000 (600,000 to 800,000 Australian Dollars), and are sold in Australia’s black market at prices between $3.1 to $4.1 Million (3 to 4 Million AUD), creating a 4,900 percent profit margin.

Between 2008 and 2012, Custom officials in the country seized 924 tons of tobacco and 322 million cigarettes.

Source:  Renee Viellaris, “Criminals reap huge profits by importing illegal cigarettes,” Australian, September 30, 2012.

Tagged as: Australia, Cigarette Smuggling

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Sale of Smuggled Cigarettes in Greece
​In 2010 and 2011, an estimated $4.4 Billion (3.5 Billion Euros) worth of smuggled cigarettes were sold in Greece, according to the Associated of Hellenic Tobacco Industries. The sale of black market cigarettes represented about 15 percent of the total cigarette market in Greece.

Previously, it was reported that the Government of Greece was losing $654 Million (500 Euros) in tax revenue due to cigarette smuggling.

Source:  Anestis Dokas, “Smuggled cigarettes tak up 15 pct of market,” ekathimerini.com, September 2, 2012.

Tagged as: Cigarette Smuggling, Greece

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Cigarette smuggling in the European Union
​In 2011, an estimated 65 Billion cigarettes were smoked in the European Union that was smuggled and purchased on the black market.The black market cigarettes caused a loss of tax revenue of $1.2 Billion (1 Billion Euros) for the EU budget and up to $11 Billion in lost tax revenue for EU member states.

Sales of black market cigarettes in Spain increased by 300 percent in 2011, with 4.6 Billion cigarettes being sold illegally. In Ireland, the market for smuggled cigarettes was 17 percent of the total cigarette market in 2011.

Worldwide, cigarette smuggling causes losses in tax revenue of $50 Billion.

Source: Stephen Castle and Doreen Carvajal, “Europe’s Downturn Creates Unlikely Smugglers,” New York Times, July 11, 2012.

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Black market smuggling in Turkey

Drug trafficking in Turkey generated $1.7 Billion in 2010, according to a report by the Istanbul Chamber of Public Accountants and Financial Advisers.

Human smugglers in Turkey made $440 Million moving illegal migrants out of the country, and the bootlegging of alcohol on the black market brought in $60 Million.

Source: “Illegal business activity revenue totaled $4.76 billion in 2010,” Today’s Zaman, August 1, 2011.

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Market size of contraband cigarettes in Pakistan

The black market in contraband cigarettes in Pakistan was estimated to be around 26 percent in 2011.

In 2011, an estimated 1,685,000 cigarettes were sold on the illicit market of Pakistan.

Source:  “2011 sees increase in sale of tax-evaded cigarette brands,” Daily Times, May 5, 2012.



Alcohol and cigarette smuggling in Turkey

959,486 packs of smuggled cigarettes were found in Turkey in 2010, an increase of almost 50 percent from the 448,092 packs found in 2009.

38,219 bottles of smuggled alcohol were discovered in 2010, an increase of 63 percent from the 23,459 bottles discovered in 2009.

There was also an increase of counterfeit alcohol bottles in Turkey, with 14,012 bottles found in 2010, up from the 1,062 bottles found in 2009.

616 people in 2010 and 597 people in 2009 were charged by the criminal justice system in Turkey for smuggling  alcohol and cigarettes within Turkey’s black market.

Source: Ankara, “High alcohol, cigarette taxes in Turkey promote smuggling, fraud,” Hurriyet Daily News, May 5, 2011.