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BAT Romania strengthens the partnership with the Romanian Border Police with a new donation of equipment for border surveillance

22 April 2025

Bucharest, April 22nd 2025 - BAT Romania makes a new donation of equipment to the Romanian Border Police: 150 LPR (License Plate Recognition) cameras and an image storage unit intended to strengthen the reaction capacity of this structure in the surveillance of state borders, especially in the context of Romania's entry into the Schengen area. This recent donation adds to similar actions through which BAT Romania supports the Romanian Border Police’s efforts to fight illicit trade, through donations of specific equipment that contribute to strengthening the operational capacity of law enforcement authorities.

April 21st marks the National Day against Illicit Trafficking of Goods in Romania, an important moment to raise awareness on the severe impact of smuggling for the economic development and communities. Legitimate industry has an essential role in supporting the authorities' efforts to combat this phenomenon, by providing expertise and investments in technology capable of stopping illicit trafficking. BAT thus continues the series of actions carried out in support of law enforcement authorities, the partnership with the Romanian Border Police being a priority in this regard.

“Supporting the law enforcement authorities with necessary equipment to combat illicit trade is essential, as it enhances their ability to detect, investigate and prevent illegal activities, such as smuggling, counterfeiting and tax evasion. Advanced technology such as scanners, surveillance and data analysis systems provide authorities with the means to combat criminal networks, for which often only their own imagination is the limit in diversifying their illegal actions. We remain a reliable partner in supporting the efforts of the Romanian Border Police, whose considerable results in combating illicit trafficking contribute to economic stability, public safety and the consolidation of a safer business environment”, said Ileana Dumitru, External Affairs Director for the South Eastern Europe in BAT.

Recently, the Border Police from the SPF Siret – ITPF Sighetu Marmației, together with the Romanian Customs Authority, made a significant seizure at the Siret Border Crossing Point, Suceava County: following the scanning and physical inspection of the vehicle, the authorities discovered 267 boxes containing 133,500 packs of cigarettes hidden in the front of the semi-trailer, behind pallets of construction materials. The estimated value of the seizure is over half a million euros.*

Countering the criminal phenomenon of tobacco smuggling is a priority and permanent objective of the Romanian Border Police, both through its own institutional efforts and through collaboration with other state structures or representatives of civil society. Equally, we highlight the collaboration with tobacco manufacturers who, through the partnerships developed in time, have also contributed to the development of the prevention segment of this phenomenon, both through the donations they have made and through national and regional public campaigns to raise awareness on the negative effects of the illegal cigarette trade.

“In the first three months of this year, border police officers seized approximately 10 million contraband cigarettes, worth over 7,5 million lei, as well as significant quantities of tobacco. In addition to the damage to the state budget, illegal cigarette trafficking also fuels other criminal activities with a cross-border dimension, including organized crime. During this year, two criminal groups were identified and dismantled, that operated both on Romanian and EU territory, with illicit activities in the sphere of transporting and trading considerable quantities of excise products, namely cigarettes. In order to combat the phenomenon, we will continue to adapt our missions, dynamically and in close collaboration with all the factors with attributes in this respect”, said Romanian Border Police General Inspector Cornel Laurian Stoica, Police Principle Quaestor.

About the cigarettes illicit trade in Romania

Illicit cigarette trafficking damages the Romanian state annually by approximately 2 billion lei, which represents the equivalent of 500 km of modernized national road**
Romania has 2,000 km of border with non-EU countries, where the price of tobacco can be up to three times lower.
Each container of illegal cigarettes means one million euros in profit for smuggling networks. Interpol data shows that illicit cigarette trafficking is a catalyst for drug, arms, human and even terrorist activities.
According to Novel Research data, the black market reached a record negative level in Romania in 2024 for the last 4 years: 9% of the total market. For comparison, in 2023 the annual average of smuggling was 8.2%, up by over one percentage point from the previous year.
According to the latest market research by Novel Research***, the black market reached a new record negative level in the first half of 2025 for the last 4 years, exceeding the threshold of 10% of total consumption, compared to 9.1% in November 2024. In terms of the origin of products on the black market, the largest share is held by Duty Free (35.2%), followed by Bulgaria with 32%, continuing the increasing trend of the last 2 years, in the context of Romania's recent accession to the Schengen area.