Smugglers employ new technique

The Customs Department has seized about eight million cigarettes from a container despite the smugglers' best efforts to avoid detection by X-Ray.

The cigarettes were packed behind a wall of boxes whose outer cover was lined with metal, intended to deflect the X-rays of the equipment used by the department to scan containers.

The department said the seizure was made at the Freeport after an investigation lasting several days. This is the first time the department has come across the technique employed by the smugglers.

Customs officers had been monitoring a batch of containers which ended up in Malta about 15 days ago and which originated from an unknown address in the Far East.

A number of the containers were scanned but nothing awry was encountered. Then, after careful analysis of the images, the department decided to carry out a search.

At first everything looked in order and the 40-foot container that was later found to be holding the cigarettes appeared to be carrying plastic granules as declared in its documentation.

However, the sacks of granules in the front acted as a cover-up for the cigarettes at the back. Whoever packed the container must have been knowledgeable of the VACIS scanning system used by the department, a Customs spokesman said.

The seized container, which was destined for north Africa, had a total of 858 boxes each packed with 10,000 Marlboro cigarettes. There were also some 20 boxes lined with metal.

The seizure is one of the largest in recent months. Among other, smaller finds last year, Customs seized over 8.5 million cigarettes from a container declared to be carrying household goods last May and over seven million from a container documented to be holding decorative glass last November, both at the Freeport.

The EU's anti fraud organisation and the World Customs Organisation were informed of the latest find.