Discovery of a clandestine cigarette factory in Belgium, 203 million seized in one year

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At 6 a.m. this Wednesday, September 9 morning, Belgian customs officers discovered a huge clandestine factory, hidden in a commercial zone an hour's drive from France. Inside, large-scale production: tobacco drying, manufacturing, packaging. This morning alone, four and a half million cigarettes were seized.

“You need a machine to collect the cartridges. It’s Marlboro, so it’s probably for France, Belgium,” said Florence Angelici, spokesperson for Belgian customs. Some packages were intended for the British market, others for Denmark. The factory ran 7 days a week. "These cigarettes are manufactured industrially. A little over a million, 1,300,000 per day. So, it's a fairly professional factory," says Florence Angelici.

Eleven workers who lived there were arrested when they jumped out of bed, only the small hands. A room for the Ukrainians, and, in the next room, the dormitory for the Polish workers. “We notice that all the windows have been completely blinded. So we must not see that there are people sleeping and living in the warehouse and especially that there is an illegal factory,” notes the spokesperson, pointing to completely blocked windows. Kitchen, toilets, weight benches... Everything is on site, so that no one leaves. The network is well organized. “Certain workers who are, for example, arrested in Belgium, we found that they had already been arrested in other illegal cigarette factories in other countries as well,” underlines Florence Angelici.

203 million cigarettes were seized in one year

Since the start of the year, 12 clandestine sites have been discovered: a record. Counterfeit cigarettes go to countries neighboring Belgium; and on social networks, we easily contact resellers. Prices on the black market are three times cheaper than in a French tobacconist. “How much is the cartridge?”, we ask by message. “40 euros is top quality,” we are told.

But it's not just counterfeits, there's also smuggling from Luxembourg. Motorists who buy tobacco at low prices in this country and resell it in France. On the day of our report, no major seizures. Fines can go up to 10 times the value of the damage for the Belgian tax authorities. “The fines are expensive, but anyone who traffics and does this every day, or several times a week, it will not deter them,” points out Alain Quintin, control officer at the Tournai customs brigade.

And when customs officers get closer to Luxembourg, the coffers are fuller. A French motorist admits to making the trip regularly and resells tobacco in France with a margin. "Beyond what we had to bring back, to make ends meet. A cartridge is 50 euros in Luxury, 100 euros in France. Even if it's only a 100-ball note, still that's interesting," he explains.

Between clandestine factories and roadside checks, 203 million cigarettes were seized in one year. A loss of 97 million euros for the Belgian tax authorities. Massive and constantly increasing traffic.