Armenia Thwarts Cigarette Smuggling

Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC) has foiled an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of cigarettes into the country, reports Panorama.

In an Oct. 25 statement, the SRC said its employees were told that a large quantity of tobacco products could be hidden in a truck transporting cargo from Iran.

After inspecting the truck driven by an Armenian citizen, they discovered 68,500 packs of cigarettes without excise tax stamps hidden beneath bags of cement.

Preliminary calculations suggest the shipment had evaded AMD22.5 million ($58,128) in excise taxes.