A British man caught with thousands of cigarettes at Geneva Airport highlights a broader trend of increased smuggling activities in Switzerland’s major airports.

A 37-year-old British man has been arrested at Geneva Airport for smuggling cigarettes. He crossed the border last Sunday with 4061 packs of cigarettes. The goods were destined for France and the United Kingdom.

Another traveler, a 38-year-old Frenchman, was stopped two days earlier with 2660 undeclared packs of cigarettes, as reported by the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) on Friday.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been ten cases of smuggling of at least 20,000 cigarettes and five cases of at least 10,000 cigarettes at Geneva Airport.

Seizures at the three major Swiss airports (Geneva, Zurich, Basel) have increased compared to the previous year. According to the FOCA, more smuggled cigarettes have already been confiscated from drug couriers than in 2023.

The confiscated cigarettes originate mainly from Turkey and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the report continued. In most cases, they are destined for various smuggling markets in France.

©Keystone/SDA