Investigative Reports

A Fake Shipping Container Leads to Chinese Cigarettes — and Italy’s Camorra Crime Group

A bust of 17 tons of illicit cigarettes in Italy led back to China Tobacco’s European factory — where an executive was working closely with a group of smugglers to help them move cigarettes around Europe. Reporters found the company shipping large numbers of cigarettes to suspicious buyers in Iraq, Montenegro, Moldova, and more. Key...

Huge Quantities of Chinese Cigarettes Smuggled Into Ukraine

China Tobacco’s factory in Europe is selling hundreds of millions of cigarettes to companies in Ukraine under investigation for cigarette smuggling — one co-owned by a former border official with ties to the president. Key Findings China Tobacco has exported hundreds of millions of cigarettes to Ukraine from its European factory since 2013, even though...

China Tobacco ‘Very Discreetly’ Becomes Leaf-Buying Powerhouse in Brazil

China is complying with recommendations under a global treaty to decrease the amount of land under tobacco cultivation –– but its massive state-owned conglomerate is shifting production overseas. Brazil has become a major supplier, with farmers working under difficult conditions to grow tobacco for Chinese cigarettes. Key Findings Despite significant growth since it launched in...

Illegal Chinese Cigarettes Flooding Latin America Flow Through Panama

China Tobacco’s factory in Panama was shut down by authorities after its cigarettes kept making their way onto the black market there. A network of companies sprang up in its place — and have been shipping huge numbers of cigarettes from Panama around the region. Key Findings Countries from Mexico to Ecuador are seeing spikes...

What is China Tobacco?

What is China Tobacco? How is China Tobacco linked to the Chinese government? How is China Tobacco structured? How does China Tobacco differ from other multinational tobacco companies? How profitable is CNTC? Where in the world are China Tobacco’s cigarettes sold? What treaties regulate China Tobacco? I hear a lot about “Big Tobacco”...

China’s State Tobacco Company is Massive at Home. Now it’s Ready to Take Over the World

It’s the biggest cigarette company you’ve never heard of. While the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) produces nearly half the world’s cigarettes, almost all of them have been consumed at home. Until recently. In 2015, state-owned CNTC jumped on China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, a global strategy for developing Chinese infrastructure and trade that built on the...

China Tobacco Goes Global

You’ve heard of Marlboro, Camel, and Lucky Strike, but what about Silver Elephant, Red Pagoda Mountain, and Double Happiness? China National Tobacco Corporation is the world’s largest tobacco company, accounting for nearly half of global cigarette production. The secretive state-backed giant holds a virtual monopoly over China’s vast tobacco market, the world’s largest, selling more...

New products, old tricks? Concerns big tobacco is targeting youngsters

Last year the Spanish boyband Dvicio were riding high after their latest album topped the charts. The “boys” – by now all in their late 20s or early 30s – were the summer’s cover stars for Like!, a tween magazine. Despite the pandemic, the band were still touring Spain. But these were gigs with a...

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