Blow against illegal cigarettes producers

Lithuanian Customs officials have shut down a factory that produced counterfeit cigarettes for smuggling.

The European Anti Fraud Office (OLAF) discovered the factory based in Vilnius that had the capacity to produce about 1,000 cigarettes per minute and specialized in forging three different brands.

Factories of illicit cigarette production in Lithuania and other neighboring countries have been on the rise since the Eurozone enlargement in 2004. Lithuania has become one of the major entry spots into the EU to smuggle illegal cigarettes. Police regularly detain cars and drivers to check on smuggling coming through Lithuania from Belarus in the past few years.