Key Findings:

• It’s estimated that about one in every three cigarettes exported worldwide is sold on the black market. Tobacco manufacturers have often blamed the international smuggling of their products on organized crime. But a year-long investigation by the Center for Public Integrity in 1999 and 2000 showed that tobacco company officials at BAT, Philip Morris, and R.J. Reynolds profited by working closely with companies and individuals directly connected to organized crime in Hong Kong, Canada, Colombia, Italy, and the United States. The result was tax evasion on a global scale that greatly depleted government treasuries, especially in Third World countries.