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During 2000 and 2001, a team of reporters from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists broke a series of landmark stories exposing how leading tobacco companies worked with criminal networks to smuggle cigarettes around the world. Relying on interviews with insiders and thousands of internal industry documents, the unique team - based in six countries - pieced together how smuggling played a key role in big tobacco's strategy to boost sales and increase market share. Those revelations, and others that followed, helped prompt lawsuits and government inquiries, and led to promises of a global crackdown on the illegal trade in tobacco.

The series was reprinted or written about in more than 40 publications in 10 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, the U.K., and the United States. Here is the complete ICIJ series, from its first stories in 2000 on industry involvement in smuggling to the exposés of 2001 revealing big tobacco’s collusion with Colombian drug cartels, the Italian Mafia, and North American motorcycle gangs.

THE ORIGINAL SERIES

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Major Tobacco Multinational Implicated In Cigarette Smuggling, Tax Evasion, Documents Show

Global Reach of Tobacco Company’s Involvement in Cigarette Smuggling Exposed in Company Papers

Philip Morris Accused of Smuggling, Money-Laundering Conspiracy In Racketeering Lawsuit

U.K. Considering Formal Investigation Into Cigarette Smuggling

Tobacco Firms Used Suspected Drug Traffickers, EU Lawsuit Claims: Lawsuit accusations include money laundering, wire fraud and mail fraud

AN INDUSTRY UNDER FIRE

Clarke Company Faces New Smuggling Claims

Whistleblower Who Asked Too Many Questions Faced Company’s Wrath

The Multi-Million Dollar Trade Route

How Clarke Defended Company

THE ORGANIZED CRIME CONNECTION

Tobacco Companies Linked to Criminal Organizations in Lucrative Cigarette Smuggling

China

North America

Italy

Latin America

Africa

Cyprus and the Middle East

United States

What’s next?

FOLLOW-UPS

White House Sought to Soften Anti-Terrorism Legislation in Support of Tobacco Companies

EU Accuses U.S. Tobacco Companies of Trading With Iraq, Terrorists

Australian Parliament Warned On Tobacco Smuggling-Crime Link

Commentary: You’ll Be Hearing More About ‘Cross-Border’ Journalism

BAT response to CPI report

Cigarette Company Documents Outline Strategy to Derail Global Tobacco Treaty

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About the Center

The Center for Public Integrity is dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern in the USA and around the world.

More about the Center

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

The Center’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is a collaboration of some of the world’s leading investigative reporters. ICIJ extends globally the Center’s style of watchdog journalism, working with 100 reporters in 50 countries to produce long-term, transnational projects.

ICIJ website