Customs seize 16m smuggled cigarettes

The Customs Department seized 16 million smuggled cigarettes packed in two containers, the largest haul of its kind in Malta.

The cigarettes were discovered in two 40-foot containers, hidden behind boxes of car spare parts, a spokesman for Customs said.

The case goes back to the middle of last month when the vessel Iran Ilam arrived in Malta carrying containers destined for the island as well as for trans-shipment. The vessel's last port of call before Malta was Dubai and it then headed for Benghazi, Libya.

Following a routine inspection by the Freeport's Customs Monitoring Unit, the two containers were detained for a second examination.

The department's X-ray unit revealed discrepancies between the actual merchandise and that documented, prompting the Customs authorities to order the containers open.

The containers held cartons upon cartons of cigarettes, of a brand (Smart) never seen in Malta before. The cigarettes are original, which means the value of the haul is very high.

A Customs spokesman estimated that the total import duty on the cigarettes, together with the Customs tax and VAT, would have totalled Lm1.3 million.

A spokesman for the local representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line, which operates the ship, said the company handled thousands of containers on a daily basis.

The company said it relied on information given to them by the owners or shippers of the goods regarding their nature and description.

Each container is loaded by the line on a "said to contain" basis and the statements are made on the basis of information given by the owners or shippers of the goods, the spokesman said.