NRA

December 11, 2001

25-Million Cigarettes Destroyed

Photo: Man throwing cartons of Benson&Hedges, Marlboro and Marlboro Lights into open furnace.

In the presence of Minister of Interior Mareks Seglins, Saeima Defense and Internal Affairs Commission Chairman Dzintars Kudums and other Latvian government officials, over 25 million counterfeit cigarettes were publicly destroyed today in a specially contracted furnace in Silakrogs, near Riga, reports LETA. The joint action by the government of Latvia and the Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR) marks the first destruction of such large amounts of counterfeit products in the region.

Criminal investigations into the seizures of counterfeit tobacco destroyed today involved close cooperation between Latvia's State Security Police, Revenue Service, Customs Department and State Police, as well as CIPR

Also participating in the event were senior diplomatic officials from the Lithuanian, Estonian, Russian, Swedish, US, UK and EU missions.

(page 5, news briefs from Latvia)