More than $2.5 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes are in the Customs lot waiting to go up in smoke. The 1,644 master cases of fake Marlboro brand cigarettes amounting to 98,640 cartons were found in two containers back on October 28th.
The containers which were destined for the Corozal Free Zone were supposed to contain slippers or at least that's what the Customs declaration form said. But acting on intelligence provided by U.S. authorities, custom examiners along with an analyst from Phillip Morris International, the maker of Marlboro did a search and instead of slippers, they found cases upon cases of cigarettes with the Marlboro logo all counterfeit. All told the 2 containers of cigarettes would be worth $2,650,000 on the market. And that is nothing because Political and Economic Affairs Officer for the U.S. Embassy Edgar Embrey says he believes this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Even more interesting is that the fake cigarettes originated all the way in North Korea and traveled through South Korea, Japan, and Panama before arriving in Belize. The final destination of the shipment was Mexico which explains why the cigarettes were stamped made in Mexico since it is illegal to sell cigarettes in Mexico which weren't manufactured there.
Phillip Morris has hired a local attorney to oversee the destruction of the cigarettes which more than likely will be done by burning them.