More than 92 million smuggled cigarettes were seized in Austria in 2006 – an increase of 5.6 million sticks or roughly 6 per cent since 2005.

The head of the fraud department of the ministry of finance, Herwig Heller, pointed out that the rate of cigarettes smuggled out of the Far East has grown remarkably, amounting to 35 to 40 per cent, “if not more.” (pi)