Gov't Sends Evidence of Illegal Tobacco Trade to Justice

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Press reports in Athens claim that Justice ministry general secretary for transparency Georgios Sourlas sent a file of evidence on the illegal tobacco trade and its repercussions on the Greek economy to financial prosecutor Grigoris Peponis, urging the start of an investigation.

Illegal trade in cigarettes and other tobacco products may cost the Greek state up to 800 million Euros in lost revenues per year, -based on the ministry's figures-, representing up to 20 percent of the legal trade.

Sourlas additionally highlighted the higher health risks from the contraband products, which often exceed legal limits for carbon monoxide (by 100 percent), tar (by 70 percent) and nicotine (by 15 percent), a report from the state news agency said. Contraband cigarettes also tend to contain low-quality tobacco or even tobacco industry wastes and other by-products, which thus require the use of uncontrolled chemical additives of unknown origin, while they may contain heavy metals, foreign matter or chemical fertilizers and use substandard filters.