Massive haul of bootleg cigarettes at port of Piraeus

Customs officials in Greece this week intercepted nine containers at the port of Piraeus containing an estimated 98 million bootleg cigarettes, a cache that corresponds to 21 million euros in taxes and fees.

The containers had arrived from the UAE, Thailand and China. They were offloaded at the port of Piraeus, the largest in Greece, and then destined for final recipient companies in Montenegro , Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus.

Bills of lading identified the contents in separate containers as printing paper, paper bags, tools, footwear and generators, items that were stacked in the first two rows, with the cigarette cartons loaded behind.