Belgian supermarket aisle with legitimate tobacco and cigarette packs for sale. Belgium’s black market cigarette boom: a smuggler’s paradise?
Credit: Shutterstock, defotoberg
Belgium is fast becoming a smuggler’s paradise for illegal cigarettes, with a third of all cigarettes puffed in the country now coming from the black market. The surge in illicit tobacco trade is sending shockwaves through the industry, with fresh figures from Cimabel – the Belgian-Luxembourg cigarette manufacturers’ federation – revealing that 36.5% of cigarettes consumed in Belgium in the second quarter of 2024 dodged taxation. That’s a staggering leap from 20% the previous year.
While only 1% of these are counterfeit, the bulk are brought in from countries with rock-bottom tobacco prices, like Bulgaria. The cause? Cimabel blames “excessive” tax hikes imposed by the previous federal government, arguing that sky-high prices are pushing Belgians towards cheaper, untaxed alternatives.
Crime rings cashing in
Belgium’s reputation as a smuggling hub is nothing new. Already a major artery for drug and arms trafficking, the country is now a hotspot for illegal tobacco too. Organised crime gangs are making a killing, importing vast quantities of cheap cigarettes and flogging them at hefty profit margins.
Authorities are battling to stub out the illicit trade, but the scale is eye-watering. In late February, police raided the biggest illegal cigarette factory ever found in Belgium, in Lommel (Limburg province). Officers seized a jaw-dropping 30 million cigarettes – dodging an estimated €14.4 million in unpaid taxes. Fifty people, mostly from Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania, were arrested in connection with the operation.
Is Belgium’s anti-smoking drive backfiring?
Belgium has long championed strict anti-smoking policies, ramping up taxes to curb tobacco use. But critics argue that the approach is backfiring. Instead of putting people off smoking, it’s driving them into the arms of the black market.
Cimabel warns that the state is haemorrhaging revenue while criminals rake in millions. The federation is now calling for a rethink on excise policies, urging the government to strike a balance between public health and stopping illicit traders from lighting up their profits.
With Belgium fast becoming a contraband hotspot, the government faces a burning question: how can they curb smoking without handing criminals a golden opportunity?
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