The losses caused by smuggling and counterfeiting of cigarettes in Brazil amount to R$ 1.2 billion, according to government sources and tobacco industry statistics

Abifumo, the Brazilian tobacco industry association, says that contraband goods already make up 20 per cent of the Brazilian cigarette market. In some border states such as Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of the country, this percentage is estimated to be even higher.
According to the country’s customs authorities, high taxation (73.5 per cent of the retail price) make cigarettes an attractive product for smugglers. Large volumes enter Brazil illegally every day, coming mainly through the Brazilian-Paraguayan border.
A great quantity of cigarettes is brought in by the so-called “sacoleiros”, Brazilian day-trippers who buy the products in Paraguay and carry them over the border. Contraband cigarettes are then sold by street vendors in the main Brazilian cities.