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ASH Daily News for 28 May 2010

HEADLINES

  • West Midlands: Criminal gang targets cigarette gantries

    Store owners in the West Midlands have been hit by a spate of break-ins targeting their cigarette gantries.

    At least six stores on the Dudley Road running from Walsall to Wolverhampton are known to have been victims, including one store which was hit twice in a week.

    Traders suspect that a single gang is responsible for all the incidents as in each case a hydraulic jack is used to force up the shutters on the outside of the store before the thieves break in and scoop tobacco stock into a quilt cover, escaping to a waiting car. Because of the speed of the raid the thieves are in and out in less than four minutes they have been able to leave the scene before police can respond to any burglar alarm.

    Surinder Singh of Booze Corner in Willenhall lost £9,000-worth of stock in one raid. He told C-Store: "Four men in balaclavas broke in and cleaned me out of tobacco. They damaged the shutters and the door it took me three days to clear up the mess."

    To avoid being targeted again, Surinder has ordered a bespoke gantry made from rigid steel costing £2,000. "At least this way I'll have peace of mind," he said.

    Source: The Grocer - 28 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/d27SKj

  • Thieves make off with £2m of cigarettes from Southampton docks

    Cigarettes with a street value of £2 million have been stolen from Southampton docks, after thieves tied up security guards.

    Officers believe there were at least four offenders involved in the robbery, which took place sometime between 12.30am and 3.00am on Monday, May 24.

    The offenders forced entry to the premises on the dockyard site and tied the security staff up while they loaded 26 pallets of cigarettes onto an articulated lorry.

    The IVECO lorry has a white cab and the trailer is a double-decker with a sloped front and blue curtains with no company markings.

    The vehicle has four spotlights on top of the cab and fairy lights around the front windscreen.

    The vehicle was caught on CCTV leaving the docks area shortly after 2.30am.

    The haul of cigarettes stolen included Benson and Hedges, Lambert and Butler, Superkings, Mayfair.

    A number of packets of Golden Virginia tobacco were also taken.

    The cigarettes may be recognisable because many of the individual packets will have health warnings printed in Spanish and French.

    Detective Inspector Simon Baker, from Hampshire Constabulary’s Serious and Organised crime Unit, said: “This was a very serious crime carried out by what we suspect is a highly organised gang of criminals.

    “We believe the lorry headed out of Southampton and joined the M3 northbound towards London, so would appeal to any drivers who may have seen the vehicle in the early hours of Monday to get in touch.”

    Police are appealing for anyone who has been offered cigarettes matching this description to contact them.

    Officers are also appealing for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the early hours of Monday or who saw the lorry either before or after the robbery took place.

    Source: The Daily Echo - 17 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cNThcn

  • Northern Ireland: Three arrested in postal tobacco fraud

    Three men have been arrested following investigations by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) into a multi-million cigarette smuggling scam in the Ballymena area.

    The Tuesday morning raids are part of an investigation into the suspected evasion of around £345,000 revenue. The fraud involved the importation of small amounts of cigarettes over a number of months from China, declaring the contents of the packages as something else, such as toys. The cigarettes were sent through the postal system to addresses in the Ballymena area.

    Mike Connolly, Assistant Director, Specialist Investigations, HMRC said:

    “This form of criminality is motivated solely by greed and personal gain, costing us all, as taxpayers, around £2 billion per year in unpaid duty. The unregulated sale of illegal cigarettes is not a victimless or harmless crime, and encourages otherwise honest people to trade with criminals.

    “We are also keen to work closely with and support local businesses that have to compete against these illegal sales. We would encourage anyone who knows of someone selling cheap or duty free cigarettes and tobacco to contact our hotline on 0800 59 5000.”

    The arrests were made following planned searches of two private premises near Ballymena.

    All three have been released pending further investigations. Computers and other records were seized.    

    Source: COI - 27 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/cqvHhg

  • Smokeless zones: Best "smoking and smoke-free" destinations

    With World No Tobacco Day (31st May 2010) encouraging smokers around the globe to stub out their cigarettes, Skyscanner reveals the best countries to escape the smoke and the countries where stubborn smokers can light up in peace!

    Smokeless Zones

    Iceland - smoking and the use of tobacco in enclosed public spaces including bars, restaurants and clubs, as well as public land intended for use by children, is banned in Iceland. Unfortunately, the smoking ban does not apply to volcanoes.

    Ireland - the Emerald Isle led the way with its anti-tobacco laws, being the first country in the world to enforce an outright ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces, which includes clubs, bars, restaurants and clubs.

    Australia - anti-smoking travellers catching flights to Australia will be pleased to know that smoking in enclosed public spaces is banned throughout the country. Australians have extra reason to be careful whilst smoking and driving as at least one of the major bushfires in Victoria last year were thought to have been started by a lit cigarette thrown from a car.

    Canada - bars and restaurants in Canada have been smoke-free zones for several years now and in some provinces shop owners are required to keep tobacco out of sight of customers.

    Norway - smoking has been banned in cafes, restaurants and bars since 2004 and the number of smokers has steadily declined over the last decade. However, a type of oral tobacco called 'snus', remains popular, with one in five young men using it daily.

    Smokey Zones

    Andorra - for a country which boasts one of the highest life expectancies in the world, it's perhaps surprising that smoking in bars, restaurants or clubs in this Pyrenean principality is permitted. The fact that Andorra is a duty-free country means that it will be popular with smokers looking for bargain cigarettes.

    Spain - although no-smoking laws were introduced in Spain in 2006, enforcement has been lax and most bars and restaurants continue to permit smokers. A new, stricter law is set to be introduced by the end of 2010, so smokers will need to catch flights to Spain soon if they wish to enjoy a cigarette indoors.

    Serbia - smoking bans in Serbia tend to be more theoretical than actual. Bars and restaurants still permit smoking and even where they don't, it's not unusual to see people casually lighting up in front of a 'no smoking' sign.

    Japan - smokers are welcomed with open arms in the Land of the Rising Sun where smoking is permitted in bars and restaurants across most of the county. Add to that the low cost of cigarettes, and Japan remains a smoker's stronghold.

    Greece - Greece is Europe's biggest smoking nation. Despite efforts to ban smoking in restaurants, pubs and clubs, the law has not been widely enforced so smokers can still be found puffing away in public places all over the country. 

    Source: Travelio - 28 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bSy4jf

  • Indonesia: Two-year-old who smokes 40 cigarettes a day puffs away on a toy truck

    Taking a deep drag on his cigarette while resting on the steering wheel of his truck, he looks like a parody of a middle-aged lorry driver.

    But the image covers up a much more disturbing truth: At just the tender age of two, Ardi Rizal's health has been so ruined by his 40-a-day habit that he now struggles to move by himself.

    The four-stone Indonesia toddler is certainly far too unfit to run around with other children - and his condition is set to rapidly deteriorate.

    But, despite local officials' offer to buy the Rizal family a new car if the boy quits, his parents feel unable to stop him because he throws massive tantrums if they don't indulge him.

    His mother, Diana, 26, wept: 'He's totally addicted. If he doesn't get cigarettes, he gets angry and screams and batters his head against the wall. He tells me he feels dizzy and sick.'

    Ardi will smoke only one brand and his habit costs his parents £3.78 a day in Musi Banyuasin, in Indonesia's South Sumatra province.

    But in spite of this, his fishmonger father Mohammed, 30, said: 'He looks pretty healthy to me. I don't see the problem.'

    Ardi's youth is the extreme of a disturbing trend. Data from the Central Statistics Agency showed 25 per cent of Indonesian children aged three to 15 have tried cigarettes, with 3.2 per cent of those active smokers.

    The percentage of five to nine year olds lighting up increased from 0.4 per cent in 2001 to 2.8 per cent in 2004, the agency reported.

    A video of a four-year-old Indonesian boy blowing smoke rings appeared briefly on YouTube in March, prompting outrage before it was removed from the site.

    Child advocates are speaking out about the health damage to children from second-hand smoke, and the growing pressure on them to smoke in a country where one-third of the population uses tobacco and single cigarettes can be bought for a few cents.

    Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia's child protection commission, blames the increase on aggressive advertising and parents who are smokers.

    'A law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country,' he said.

    A health law passed in 2009 formally recognizes that smoking is addictive, and an anti-smoking coalition is pushing for tighter restrictions on smoking in public places, advertising bans and bigger health warnings on cigarette packages.

    But a bill on tobacco control has been stalled because of opposition from the tobacco industry.
    The bill would ban cigarette advertising and sponsorship, prohibit smoking in public, and add graphic images to packaging.

    Benny Wahyudi, a senior official at the Industry Ministry, said the government had initiated a plan to try to limit the number of smokers, including dropping production to 240 billion cigarettes this year, from 245 billion in 2009.

    'The government is aware of the impact of smoking on health and has taken efforts, including lowering cigarette production, increasing its tax and limiting smoking areas,' he said.

    Mr Mulyadi said a ban on advertising is key to putting the brakes on child and teen smoking.

    'If cigarette advertising is not banned, there will be more kids whose lives are threatened because of smoking,' he said.

    Ubiquitous advertising hit a bump last month when a cigarette company was forced to withdraw its sponsorship of pop star Kelly Clarkson's concert following protests from fans and anti-tobacco groups.

    However, imposing a non-smoking message will be difficult in Indonesia, the world's third-largest tobacco consumer.

    Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, a member of the National Commission of Tobacco Control, said Indonesia must also address the social conditions that lead to smoking, such as family influence and peer pressure.

    'The promotion of health has to be integrated down to the smallest units in our society, from public health centres and local health care centres to the family,' he was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

    Health Minister Endang Sedyaningsih conceded turning young people off smoking will be difficult in a country where it is perceived as positive because cigarette companies sponsor everything from scholarships to sporting events.

    'This is the challenge we face in protecting youth from the dangers of smoking,' she said in a statement on the ministry's website. 

    [The article includes pictures of the child]

    Source: Daily Mail - 27 May 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/dxsu2T