The problem with cheap fags.

This photo shows two youths smuggling cigarettes from Gibraltar into Spain. They are about to swim through a hole in the border fence, which runs several metres into the sea but is falling apart. The photo was taken a while back but the route is still popular with those engaged in small-time contraband. A couple of days ago, Spanish Guardia Civil officers arrested one man as he stepped onto the shore with 1500 packets of Chesterfield in three plastic bags.

There’s been a surge in cigarette smuggling over recent months, most of it at the land border. Almost on a daily basis cigarettes are found hidden in false compartments in cars, though petty smugglers also rely on more traditional techniques and simply conceal their stash about their person. In one recent case, a man was stopped and found to have 19 packets of rolling tobacco strapped to his body. At other times, people have been arrested as they hurled cigarette boxes over the border fence close to the commercial gate. Smugglers have also been regularly intercepted using small fast boats to ferry cigarettes from Gibraltar to Spain.

Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border put it down to the economic downturn and rising unemployment. I guess that plays a factor, but there’s always been smuggling in this area, and for one simple reason: tobacco is cheaper in Gib than in Spain. Not just a little cheaper, but a lot. Less than half the price, in fact.

So it’s pure economics. Despite the ‘no smoking’ campaigns in Spain, the Spanish are still among the biggest smokers in Europe. So there’s demand. As for supply, Gib, despite its size (and its own ‘no smoking’ campaigners), imports ridiculous quantities of tobacco every year and has built an unenviable reputation as the premier pit stop for cheap fags and booze in southern Spain.

The rest is predictable. It's a similar situation in other parts of the world. Take the UK, for example. The Telegraph revealed that cigarette smuggling costs the UK £2bn a year.

p.p.s. A big thanks to 'you know who' for the pic.