The Portuguese tax authority seized more than 9.2 million cigarettes at the Lisbon port in an anti-smuggling operation.
If the cigarettes had been marketed illegally (without paying the tobacco tax and VAT due), this would represent a revenue loss for the Portuguese state of about €1.6 million. The seized cigarettes were enough to fill 460,000 packets.
A container loaded at the Algeciras port (Spain) transporting cigarette brands Gold Classic and Mohawk had been labelled “equipment and products related to equestrian activity” to deceive the authorities. The Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs said: “These important inspections were developed and implemented by the tax authority to fight fraud, tax evasion and illicit trafficking” … and appear to be successful.
