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FROM
CUBA
More than 11,000 boxes of counterfeit cigars
confiscated
HAVANA. Ana Leonor Díaz, Grupo
Decoro - National police and Customs inspectors
said they had confiscated 11,935 boxes of
counterfeit cigars and closed more than
150 underground factories in a series of
raids.
The cigars, bearing the most prestigious
brands the Cuban government sells as a source
of foreign exchange, sell at lower prices
in the black market, primarily to tourists,
and experts say their quality is indistinguishable
from that of the officially approved product.
Customs agents said they had confiscated
hundreds of boxes from visitors leaving
the island from the Havana and Varadero
airports.
In a series of raids in three Havana municipalities,
police found more than 150 factories where
the cigars were made, packed in cedar boxes
and fitted with the rings that would presumably
attest to their authenticity.
Tobacco industry authorities adopted a
holographic seal years back that was supposedly
tamper-proof. Yet, during the last two years,
they have uncovered evidence of a parallel,
clandestine industry engaged in the sale
and export of cigars that they have not
been able to eradicate.
Versión
original en español
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