 | A criminal court in Turin has sentenced several individuals to prison and ordered the seizure of millions of euros worth of assets as part of a major trans-national tobacco contraband case. A network of fictitious companies carried out illegal exports from the EU to destinations outside the bloc, while at the same time legally importing tobacco products from third countries which were then put into circulation in the EU without having to pay customs duties and taxes. |  |
 Illegal tobacco makes up between 16.5% and 32.7% of the Canadian Market | Corrupt customs officials sometimes validated exports without the containers actually leaving the EU, or validated exports through trucks that had already been impounded. The court ordered the defendants to pay over € 119 million euros to Italian Customs and €36 million to the Italian Tax Office. |
