Officers of the crime department of the Latvian customs agency intercepted a record shipment of 8.8 million smuggled cigarettes Superkings within the precincts of the commercial port of Riga, reports Rustabak news agency.

According to an official customs spokesperson, the shipment buried in secret compartments was found on 5 May in the course of a check of a consignment of furniture allegedly sent by a Chinese company to a Latvian partner. Customs officers presume that the smuggled cigarettes were meant to be forwarded to the UK. Latvia remains one of the basic transit countries for contraband of cigarettes into West Europe. (vt)