Rigas balss

December 11, 2001

25-Million Counterfeit Cigarettes Destroyed

Photo (courtesy A.F.I.): 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. According to Kudums, Latvia is "one of the largest transit corridors for counterfeit goods intended for markets in western Europe." There is little doubt that these contraband networks are linked to international organized crime groupings, on their part often further tied to international terrorist networks. 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, and other institutions. Seglins expressed his satisfaction with the work of Latvia's law enforcement authorities. Also participating in the event were senior diplomatic officials from the Lithuanian, Estonian, Russian, Swedish, US, UK and EU missions, among them US Ambassador Brian Carlson and UK Ambassador Stephen Nash. .

(page 5, news briefs from Riga)