Customs officials today seized 120 cartons of cigarettes each containing 200 cigarettes (24,000 cigarettes) from a single passenger during routine checks on passengers arriving from Istanbul.
In a statement this evening, they said that the passenger, a Latvian, passed through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel at Malta International Airport and had his belongings scanned by officials through the X-ray machine.
The contents raised suspicions and all his personal belongings were physically checked. The tax on these cigarettes would amount to over €5,000.
The police were informed and are investigating.
The passenger is expected to be arraigned tomorrow.