Jump to full article: swissinfo (Swiss Radio International), 2009-07-03
Intro: The growing illegal trade in cigarettes costs governments billions of dollars, causes huge health problems and finances militant groups, say activists.
The claims were made as 130 countries resumed talks in Geneva this week on expanding an international anti-smoking treaty to clamp down on the trade in black market cigarettes.
According to a report published this week by the International Union against Tobacco and Lung Disease, one in nine cigarettes – or 657 billion cigarettes a year – is sold illicitly by organised crime gangs. . . .
According to Ian Willmore of the Framework Convention Alliance, a network of some 350 anti-tobacco campaign groups, the nature of tobacco smuggling has changed but it still remains a major problem.
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