Counterfeit cigarettes: on the trail of the traffickers. Key words: Consumption, Economy, Health, Investigation | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

With the rise in the price of tobacco, increasing numbers of smokers are turning to the parallel market for their supplies. In France one packet is five is not bought from a state tobacconist. Duty Free, Internet purchase, but also a constantly growing illegal cash cow: the counterfeit cigarette. The traffic goes far beyond Paris. These counterfeit cigarettes are sold clandestinely in all the major cities in France. The big brands are copied in abundance. The same packet, the same logo, the same health warning… Everything is identical, except the tobacco. These counterfeits are produced by the billion in China, in illegal underground factories. These counterfeit cigarettes are much more toxic: labs have found insect excrement, coal and even bits of plastic in them.