Higher taxes might not work

Seized: Royal Malaysia Customs Department officials with smuggled cigarettes and liquor intercepted in August. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

THIS has been a dark year for most, but it has been a boon for tobacco smuggling and illegal trade in the Asia-Pacific.

Earlier this year, a Malaysian woman was sentenced to two years in an Australian jail for her part in a sophisticated money laundering and tobacco smuggling operation for a large global crime syndicate (“Malaysian student charged with smuggling cigarettes into Australia”, The Star, March 6; online at bit.ly/star_smuggle). Singapore saw the largest haul of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized in a single operation in June according to channelnewsasia.com; and in New Zealand, police seized over 2.2 million cigarettes thought to be linked to a Malaysian crime syndicate, according to nzherald.com. These are just a few examples of the black market operations that have been thwarted.