The Minister of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave announced, Thursday, before the tobacconists’ congress, a plan, in the next six months, to fight against tobacco trafficking.
“Fighting against tobacco trafficking is an economic, health, but also security issue”, insists Thomas Cazenave, Thursday October 19, in Paris, before the congress of the Confederation of tobacconists. He announced the organization of a “new major punch operation” within six months to combat tobacco trafficking. Last year, 650 tonnes of tobacco and cigarettes were intercepted by customs, a jump of 60% over one year. For the first time, five clandestine cigarette manufacturing factories have been dismantled in France. This is an economic issue because the French have spent nearly 22 billion euros purchasing tobacco in all its forms.
These sales also represent a financial windfall for the State, which is often singled out as the big profiteer from the situation by raking in tax revenues. But this money is largely reused by public authorities to reduce the health impact, between upstream prevention and downstream care management. Tobacco kills no less than 78,000 people each year in France.
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The strengthening plan, presented to the tobacconists’ congress, provides for even more controls at all levels: street sales points, dedicated businesses, hookah bars, grocery stores, hair salons too and, of course, airports with filtering through customs.
It is, in reality, the strengthening of the Colbert Plan which already exists. Last spring, 5,200 public agents and nearly 3,000 customs officers were mobilized. In one week, they made around sixty arrests and seized nearly nine tonnes of tobacco. Among future means, a 25% increase in the number of anti-tobacco dog handler teams is also planned by 2025.
The favorable reception from tobacconists
Official tobacco merchants believe that this plan defends their businesses. They don’t want to see the grip loosen. Especially since in this tobacco trafficking, there are beginning to be criminal networks of the type linked to narcotics, mafia networks. It is in fact simpler to traffic cigarettes more remuneratively.