Dubai Customs intercepts 70 million illicit cigarettes

Dubai Customs has intercepted an international smuggling attempt involving more than 70 million illicit cigarettes destined for Europe. Through intelligence-led targeting and risk analysis, customs teams identified nine air cargo shipments containing approximately 360,500 cartons of cigarettes, totaling nearly seven tonnes of tobacco.

The illicit goods were concealed within shipments that had been officially declared as clothing. The nine shipments were processed across three different air cargo facilities in Dubai, but investigators successfully linked them to a single importer by analyzing common risk indicators and shipment data.

This operation is part of a broader trend in enforcement; recent data from Dubai’s air cargo centers shows 182 seizures recorded over a three-month period, consisting of 21 customs seizures and 161 security-related seizures.