Hungary’s National Tax and Revenue Authority (NAV) said it recorded significant successes in the fight against the illegal tobacco market last year. Major General Tamas Demeter, vice president of the authority, said 118.5 million illicit cigarettes were confiscated, three times more than the previous year. They also seized 120 tons of stolen consumer tobacco. Thieves in the tobacco-growing regions of Hungary often steal tobacco leaves just before they are to be harvested by farmers.
In addition to illegal production, Demeter said that cigarette smuggling is also flourishing. He said border agents are becoming increasingly vigilant and are finding smuggled tobacco products in specifically modified hidden cavities of vehicles, concealed under transported goods, and even in tins of Bulgarian goat cheese. He also said smugglers are going high-tech, using man-sized drones to fly hundreds of packs of cigarettes across the border at a time.
