A swoop on cigarette smuggling across the Mediterranean, including Malta, netted 40 million cigarettes, the Malta Customs said today.

Maltese customs officers had intercepted and seized a container with 4.6 million cigarettes as part of Operation Sirocco, which was conducted in June and involved customs jurisdictions across Europe and the Mediterranean.

The operation also led to the seizure of 1,243kg of tobacco, 7,038 litres of alcohol and eight million counterfeit items including clothes, shoes, toys and electronic goods.

Most were shipped from China and the United Arab Emirates and were intercepted after an operation coordinated by the EU Fraud Office (OLAF). Three men were arrested.

The results of the operation are currently being discussed in a conference in Amman.

The illegal importation of the cigarettes alone would have meant lost revenue of €8m in duties.

Interpol, Europol and the World Customs Organisation were also involved.

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