Spanish police raided three clandestine tobacco factories early this year, seizing nearly 40 million euros ($44 million) worth of tobacco leaf and illicit cigarettes.
and Philip Morris International - has seen increased counterfeiting since last year in France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Denmark and the Czech Republic, Olive added.
Europol told Reuters that last year would also likely set a record for the number of illegal cigarette factories that were reported shut down by national police forces, although the full-year data isn't yet available.The industry has responded by hiring investigators to research illicit operations and share intelligence with European authorities, executives at Japan Tobacco, BAT and Imperial Brands told Reuters.
A packet of 20 cigarettes costs less than a euro to make, said Byrne, but trades at several times that, depending on the marketplace. Ukraine had been a hub for the manufacturing of illicit tobacco and a supply route for illicit and counterfeit cigarettes made in Russia and Belarus, activities that may have been disrupted by the war, Imperial Brands' McDonald said.An illegal tobacco factory was dismantled last month in Roda de Ter, 80 km from Barcelona, Spanish police said on Thursday. Officers seized 11,400 kilos of tobacco and 7,360 packets of cigarettes. Six Ukrainians were found working there.
"A good many workers from Ukraine have been found in these illegal factories," Japan Tobacco's Byrne said about counterfeiting operations across the EU.
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