300 Passengers “Involved” In Smuggling Tobacco Through Airports And Seaports

Customs authorities foiled 263 attempts to smuggle tobacco and cigarettes through Algeria’s airports and ports in just 90 days, involving 308 passengers, for a financial value estimated at one billion centimes (DA).
The General Directorate of Customs explained that the twinning agreement with the European Union Centralization of risks to counter cigarette smuggling does not involve the use of French customs agents at Algerian airports and ports, but only the use of their experience at the level of the General Directorate.
The Director of Information and Communication at the level of the General Directorate of Customs Mr Djamel Barika told “Echorouk” that attempts to smuggle one billion centimes (DA) of cigarettes at the level of Algerian airports and ports had been recorded during the period from January 1 to March 31, ie during the first quarter of the current year, 5 times less than the same period in 2018.
The port of Algiers is the first destination for cigarette smugglers, with 120 bookings recorded, including 428 cigarette cartridges, 20 tobacco cartridges, 10 “Masel” cartridges, 5 tobacco cans and e-cigarette accessories.
In addition to 101 bags of tobacco and 142 packs of cigarettes through 17 bookings, and the provinces that recorded the highest percentage of attempts to smuggle tobacco were in Annaba, Constantine, Chlef, Tebessa, Sétif, Ouargla, Oran and Tamanrasset.
According to our interlocutor, the total tally of customs was set at 308 people involved in 263 attempts to smuggle cigarettes through airports and seaports.
All in all, this concerns the seizure of 6,413 cigarette cartridges, 10 thousand and 626 packs of cigarettes, 34,301 bags of tobacco, 54 packs of tobacco bags, 7,974 carbon shisha, 22 kg of Argila tobacco and 65 bags of tobacco, 2,453 tobacco boxes and other items, with 19 vehicles and 4 trucks being used for this purpose.