Belgium’s Battle Against Cigarette Trafficking: Seizures, Arrests, and The Criminal Organizations Behind It All

2023-11-24 05:49:00

Whether for manufacturing, storage, transit or for resale abroad or on Belgian territory, Belgium is one of the most renowned countries in Europe in this area. The traffickers know this and do not hesitate to set up shop here to join a black market that brings in big profits and is (very) expensive for the State.

“They only need four weeks to put everything together. And the infrastructure is enough to make the biggest entrepreneurs pale. They really are multinational criminal corporations.”

In 2023, more than 300 million illegal cigarettes have already been seized in Belgium, a loot that weighs nearly 110 million euros in evaded import duties, excise and VAT. It was also in 2023, in June precisely, that Belgian customs made their record catch. Nearly 41 million cigarettes and 30 tons of cut tobacco were seized in one location. A dozen people were also arrested. “These are real small businesses that are created by these criminal organizations,” explains the general administrator of customs and excise, Kristian Vanderwaeren. “They only need four weeks to put everything together. And the infrastructure is enough to make the biggest entrepreneurs pale. They really are multinational criminal corporations. I shouldn’t say it, but I’m often amazed by their entrepreneurial abilities. That doesn’t stop us from tracking them down. And catch them,” exclaims the customs boss, all smiles.

Cigarette trafficking: Summary of seizures and arrests 2018-2021 ©IPM Graphics “Drug, arms and cigarette traffickers cross paths if there are common interests. Otherwise, it’s each their own specialty”

One billion illegal cigarettes consumed in Belgium

The arrests keep coming, but this does not discourage the traffickers, more and more of them are operating in Belgium. Thus, a few weeks ago, we learned that Belgian customs had got their hands on nearly 30 million cigarettes without tax stamps in a hangar located in Brecht (Antwerp). The traffickers arrested are suspected of having attempted to evade excise duties and VAT for an amount of more than 10 million euros. If part of the goods were to be exported, it is not uncommon for certain packages to also be reserved for the Belgian market.

“According to a KPMG study, nearly a billion illegal cigarettes were consumed in Belgium in 2022. Which represents nearly 400 million losses for the Belgian Treasury”

”According to a KPMG study, nearly a billion illegal cigarettes were consumed in Belgium in 2022. This represents nearly 400 million losses for the Belgian Treasury, continues Kristian Vanderwaeren. Cigarette trafficking allows you to make a lot of money very quickly by selling a product that is relatively easy to sell, because it is almost a consumer product. But which is expensive on the legal market. If you are a smoker, you will consider that 50% of what you smoke is taxes and excise duties. This is a calculation that will also be made by the trafficker, who knows that consumers will therefore be there. In addition to that, it is less aggressive, less violent traffic. So if you want to create a criminal enterprise in Belgium and earn easy money, there is something better than drugs: cigarette trafficking”.

“If you are a smoker, you will consider that 50% of what you smoke is taxes and excise duties. This is a calculation that will also be made by the trafficker, who knows that consumers will therefore be there. .”

Number of illicit factories and warehouses dismantled from 2018 to 2021 ©IPM Graphics

Limited means

And if traffickers particularly appreciate Belgium, it is in particular for its geographical location which is interesting for the market. “The United Kingdom and France are the two countries most notorious for the consumption of illegal cigarettes. It is there that the prices are the highest, which makes it a prime target for traffickers. And Belgium is close to these two countries. Don’t talk to criminals regarding borders, they don’t care. The fact that there are borders will especially slow down collaboration between states,” explains Kristian Vanderwaeren.

“They only need four weeks to put everything together. And the infrastructure is enough to make the biggest entrepreneurs pale. They really are multinational criminal corporations.”

The other element that makes Belgium attractive is, precisely, the fact that our country is smaller and less well equipped to fight once morest these criminal phenomena. “We don’t have the same means as the Netherlands, for example. This does not prevent us from working, in particular with Europol, to dismantle numerous networks. But our resources, in Belgium, are more limited.”

In this regard, Kristian Vanderwaeren hopes that collaborations between European authorities will be stronger. “The ideal, to fight once morest these forms of crime, is that we make it a common priority. Because when there are operations and arrests, we only arrest small hands, whereas it is the big brains that interest us. Dismantling and closing a company today is not going to stop these bigwigs from trying their luck elsewhere. There is so much money to be made easily that it does not scare them from investing in infrastructure which will allow them, in one month, to relaunch an entire market. We, the authorities, must keep this in mind.”

As for the precise location of these illegal activities, Kristian Vanderwaeren explains that the phenomenon affects the entire country, without exception. “There is no strategic location,” he explains. In town, in the countryside, near a motorway, in the middle of nowhere, in a hangar, at the back of a shop, in a cellar, in a house, in Flanders, in Wallonia, in Brussels: we We have already found illicit activities linked to cigarettes throughout Belgium. Absolutely everywhere. It is obvious that for seizures, it is mainly in the port area. But the market linked to illegal cigarettes is mainly fueled by trafficking coming from Eastern Europe, Poland, Belarus and Bulgaria in particular.”

1700812392
#create #criminal #enterprise #Belgium #earn #easy #money #drugs #cigarette #trafficking