Back in October 28 of 2004 the Customs Department intercepted two containers with 98,640 cartons of fake Marlboro Brand cigarettes. Well, that $2.5 million worth of cigarettes which were destined for the Mexican market have been sitting in the Customs compound for over a year and a half, and today the Customs Department started to destroy them.
The shipment of illegal smokes was scheduled to have been destroyed a long time ago but today the decision was made after the investigation was complete. While the product was destroyed no one could have been prosecuted, because there was no link to the cigarettes. The importer of the containers used a fictitious company name to bring the containers into the country.
Today in the presence of Customs officers and representatives for Phillip Morris attorneys here in Belize, as well as local cigarette manufacturers the cases of cigarettes were loaded up and sent off for destruction by fire. It's a massive load, and the remainder will be burnt off on Monday.
