Belgium swoops on counterfeit cigarette gang

AARTSELAAR: Belgian customs officers on Wednesday mounted their biggest-ever operation against counterfeit cigarette production, swooping on 10 illegal sites and making at least 40 arrests. International gangs have turned Belgium into a production hub for fake cigarettes, falsely packaged as leading brands and sold tax-free to smokers in neighbouring countries, particularly Britain. In a non-descript industrial park in Aartselaar, on a main road into the port city of Antwerp, officers arrested 18 men in a pre-dawn raid in an unmarked warehouse. The suspects, from eastern Europe, lived in a ramshackle dormitory inside the plant, working shifts to dry tobacco then pass it through cigarette-rolling machines. Some were sleeping in their bunks when the armed officers burst in while others were running the machines. They were led off in handcuffs as senior officers arrived with reporters. “While this depot was working 24 hours a day, the workers never left the plant, so as not to alert the neighbourhood,” said Florence Angelici, spokeswoman for the Belgian finance ministry in charge of the customs service.