Authorities acting on information from Imperial Tobacco raided four sites allegedly engaged in counterfeit packaging, confiscating more than 1.2 million Rizla cigarette-paper booklets, the company said.

Two packing houses, two printing workshops and a "fully stocked" warehouse were entered in a series of raids in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Jiangxi, Imperial said.
"Lengthy investigations by (Imperial) Group Security into a number of smuggling networks targeting African and European markets played a crucial role in the success of the raids," the company said. Counterfeit Rizla products "have a serious impact" on sales, notably in African markets in South Africa and Senegal, Imperial said.