FBI Takes Part in State Department Briefing on Just-Released Illicit Tobacco Trade Publication

"Today in Washington, D.C., the FBI took part in a briefing announcing the U.S. State Department’s launch of a publication that outlines the emerging negative impacts of the illicit tobacco trade and the whole-of-government approach to combating it. According to The Global Illicit Trade in Tobacco: A Threat to National Security, this low-risk, high-reward, often transnational criminal activity is a lucrative crime for some terrorist groups and a potential revenue source to finance acts of terror. It also provides funding for other criminal activities—including money laundering and trafficking in humans, weapons, drugs, antiquities, diamonds, and counterfeit goods—and it can encourage organized criminal enterprises, terrorist organizations, and other threat networks to work together. Additionally, the illicit tobacco trade deprives governments of tax revenues, causing billions of dollars in losses annually..."
Tobacco trade