On Thursday, 19.10.2023, in Calafat, representatives of BAT Romania company donated state-of-the-art equipment to the structures of the Border Police that support the strengthening of the state border surveillance system and the increase of the operational capacity of intervention. We refer to video monitoring systems (vehicle number plate recognition cameras) and thermal imaging surveillance devices (thermal imaging binoculars and information recording and transmission capabilities). Also, 4 containers were donated for the storage of confiscated cigarettes in Giurgiu and Calafat, given that, in the southern part of the country, the amount of confiscated cigarettes increased 5 times this year compared to the same period last year.
Present at the official announcement of the donation of this equipment, Chief Police Commissioner Viorel Vlăsceanu, Chief Inspector of the Territorial Inspectorate of the Giurgiu Border Police, said: "Countering this phenomenon is a priority and permanent objective of the Romanian Border Police, both through own institutional measures, as well as through collaboration with other state structures or with representatives of civil society. In the first nine months of this year, at the southern border of Romania, the border police detained for confiscation approximately 1.9 million packages of cigarettes, which represents over 35% of the total catches at national level".
Regarding the same aspect, Ms. Ileana Dumitru, Director of Legal and External Affairs of the Southeast Europe Area within BAT stated: "We are glad that we can once again stand with the authorities and specifically the Romanian Border Police in its actions on the southern border, where seizures of contraband have increased significantly in the recent period. Thus, we directly contribute to strengthening their capacity to combat illicit traffic by providing border monitoring and surveillance techniques in order to reduce cigarette smuggling, a phenomenon that it affects us all: consumers, the state budget and fair companies".
Adjacent to the damage caused to the state budget, the illegal cigarette traffic fuels other criminal levels, with a cross-border dimension, including that represented by organized crime.
At the national level, in the first nine months of this year, the border police officers seized more than 3.47 million packs of contraband cigarettes, worth approximately 63.3 million lei, and more than 27 tons of tobacco and hookah Compared to the similar period of 2022, there is a doubling of the number of confiscated cigarette packs.
Practically, approximately 65% of the entire quantity of contraband cigarettes confiscated at the national level is the result of the actions of the Romanian Border Police. As a result of them, in the same period, several criminal groups specialized in the manufacture and illegal sale of counterfeit cigarettes were identified and destroyed on the country's territory. In order to prosecute those who were involved in illegal acts, the border police registered 337 crimes for smuggling and customs fraud.
In order to maintain the trend of these results, we will continue to adapt our missions, dynamically and in close collaboration with all the factors involved.
Thus, at the level of the Romanian Border Police, a series of measures have been identified and ordered in order to prevent and combat the phenomenon, these consist in the strengthening of border surveillance devices, the intensification of informative-operational actions and the investigation of registered cases, in order to detect smuggling networks with cigarettes, the thorough documentation of the activities to be carried out, the establishment of risk areas, the tasks and responsibilities of the forces involved, the methods and times of action in order to make the operational missions carried out more efficient.
Efforts to reduce the phenomenon of illegal trafficking will continue as sustained, in collaboration with all the state institutions with powers to combat smuggling, namely the Romanian Police and the Romanian Customs Authority, under the coordination of prosecutors from the competent prosecutor's offices.
Equally, we highlight the collaboration with cigarette manufacturers who, through the partnerships , also contributed to the development of the prevention segment of this phenomenon, with several national and regional public campaigns to raise awareness of the negative effects of the illegal trade in cigarettes.
