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The illicit tobacco market in Sweden – from smuggling to warehousing

Trends in Organized Crime volume 19, pages 273–299 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Research on the illicit tobacco market in Sweden is scarce. Actors in the licit tobacco market have made estimations of the size of its illicit counterpart and claim that organised crime is highly involved in this market. In a pilot study (a part of the larger EU funded project FINOCA) a first attempt is made to analyse the role of organised crime in the tobacco market. Some criminal entrepreneurs have through companies with excise tax licences found a way of avoiding smuggling, and have therefore moved to this from illicit markets more prioritized by law enforcement agencies. The authorities would need to improve their field inspections and get abilities to screen companies with excise tax licenses to prevent and better counteract these crimes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), Stockholm, Sweden

    Johanna Skinnari & Lars Korsell

Authors
  1. Johanna Skinnari
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  2. Lars Korsell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johanna Skinnari.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

This article is based on a country chapter in Financing of Organised Crime, (2015). Sofia: Center for the Study of Democracy. For further information on issues regarding methodology etc. see the full report.

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Skinnari, J., Korsell, L. The illicit tobacco market in Sweden – from smuggling to warehousing. Trends Organ Crim 19, 273–299 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-016-9275-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-016-9275-2

Keywords

  • Organized crime
  • Illicit tobacco
  • Sweden
  • Excise fraud
  • Criminal entrepreneurs