You are browsing the archives of 2007 August.

A study by Colombia University Mailman School of Public Health released in late June has found that raising the tax on cigarettes does create a market for the smuggling of cigarettes.
Increasing cigarette taxes is an effective strategy for reducing tobacco use but there may be negative consequences especially in disadvantaged minority communities. According to a [...]

British citizens returning from vacation have been bringing a wide variety of souvenirs back from their travels.  According to UK Customs, over 163,000 illegal wildlife trade items were seized in 2006.
So what types of trinkets are they bringing back?
The items confiscated included snakeskin goods, elephant ivory carvings and, top of the list with the highest [...]

The construction of underground tunnels has become a growth industry for people living in the Gaza Strip:
Gazans are finding an antidote to their growing isolation: digging tunnels under their border with Egypt to smuggle everything from weapons to cigarettes to people.
The tunnels are being created in response to crackdowns by Israel to limit the movement [...]

On Wednesday, six Italian men were shot and killed outside a restaurant in Germany as a result of mob activities:
Six Italian men died in a hail of gunfire early Wednesday after a pizzeria celebration of one victim’s 18th birthday — a Mafia-style massacre that officials said grew out of a long-running feud between two organized [...]

Time Magazine has a report on the illicit trade in caviar:
The illegal trade ranges from private individuals flogging jars of caviar at open-air market stalls to well-organized smuggling operations, with paid couriers picking up pre-packed black market roe for delivery to specified customers.
The trade in illegal fishing is estimated to be valued between $4 to [...]

Afghanistan is simply dominating the world poppy market.
From the Associated Press:
U.N. figures to be released in September are expected to show that Afghanistan’s poppy production has risen up to 15 percent since 2006 and that the country now accounts for 95 percent of the world’s total crop, 3 percentage points more than last year, according [...]

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association released earlier this month analyzed the connection between sex trafficking and the spread of HIV.
According to the Associated Press: 
The study, which looked at Nepali women who had been trafficked into the sex trade in India and later repatriated, found that nearly 40 percent of them [...]

The State Media in China reported on a small Human Smuggling ring that tried to pass off as members of the world famous kung fu performers from the Shaolin Temple.
According to Reuters:
Chinese police have arrested three traffickers who tried to smuggle 12 teenagers out of the country by passing them off as martial arts performers [...]

With 8.3 million copies sold within the first 24 hours, the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series easily created the financial boom that book industry officials had hoped for.
In an attempt to meet the demand, unauthorized translations of the Deathly Hollows and completely new stories were created in China and sold as [...]

Back in March, Mexican authorities hauled in the world’s largest drug cash seizure from the mansion of a suspected drug dealer in Mexico.
In case your wondering what 205.6 Million in U.S. Dollars and 200,000 in Euros and Pesos looks like, here it is.

At the end of July, U.S. officials arrest the man responsible for [...]