The National Bureau issued a notice commending major tobacco-related cases and special operations

The National Bureau issued a notice commending major tobacco-related cases and special operations

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration commended the cracking of 72 major cases, 1,027 major cases, and 44 special operations in Xiaogan City, Hubei Province, including the "May 11" illegal business case, and pointed out that from July 2023 to June 2024, the number of various types of e-cigarette products seized reached 22.34 million.

In order to commend the advanced, boost morale, and further promote the in-depth development of the national tobacco anti-counterfeiting and anti-smuggling work, on December 3, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration issued a notice to commend the cracking of 72 major cases, 1,027 major cases, and 44 special operations in Xiaogan City, Hubei Province, including the "May 11" illegal business case.

The notice pointed out that in recent years, tobacco monopoly bureaus at all levels have conscientiously implemented the anti-counterfeiting and anti-smuggling work deployment of the State Bureau, continuously consolidated and improved the anti-counterfeiting and anti-smuggling system of "government leadership, departmental cooperation, multi-party participation, and close cooperation", continued to deepen the cross-regional cooperation mechanism, and accelerated the construction of a national chess game of anti-counterfeiting and anti-smuggling. Together with relevant departments, they have carried out various special operations in depth, fully played the role of tobacco-related intelligence and investigation, and achieved solid results in combating maritime smuggling, domestic and foreign counterfeiting, illegal operation of raw and auxiliary materials, transportation and distribution of fake and smuggled cigarettes, and promoting source control in key areas, effectively safeguarding national interests and consumer interests.

According to the notice, from July 2023 to June 2024, a total of 11,517 cases of fake and smuggled cigarettes with a case value of more than 50,000 yuan were investigated and dealt with nationwide, 351,000 pieces of fake and smuggled cigarettes, 18,000 tons of tobacco and tobacco leaves, and 22.34 million electronic cigarette products of various types were seized, 313 counterfeit cigarette machines were confiscated, 15,709 people were detained, and 8,767 people were held criminally responsible, which severely hit tobacco-related illegal and criminal activities.

The notice emphasized that at present, the national situation of combating tobacco counterfeiting and smuggling remains severe and complex, facing tremendous pressure from multiple counterfeiting and maritime smuggling activities at home and abroad. Tobacco Monopoly Bureaus at all levels must fully recognize the long-term, arduous and complex nature of tobacco combating and smuggling, keep a close eye on new changes, new characteristics and new trends, resolutely shoulder their responsibilities and missions, be brave in taking on responsibilities, be determined to innovate, actively identify changes and respond to them, continuously deepen multi-departmental and cross-regional cooperation and coordination, establish and improve long-term mechanisms for joint crackdowns, and gather joint efforts to combat them; learn from the case-handling spirit, methods and style of the commended units, strengthen tobacco-related intelligence research and analysis, continuously improve the quality and level of case investigation, resolutely curb the rebound and spread of counterfeiting and smuggling, effectively safeguard national fiscal and tax revenue and economic security, and make greater contributions to the high-quality development and modernization of the industry.