The Customs Department has registered yet another success in intercepting counterfeit products passing through Malta, when its officials managed to stop a container containing more than eight million contraband cigarettes.

The cigarettes were discovered in a 40-foot container that was being shipped from the Far East to North Africa.

The successful conclusion of the investigation followed

several days of thorough research and observation and

continued efforts on the part of Customs officials to ensure a greater enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights Act, to which the Maltese Customs Department is a signatory.

When Customs officers examined the documents in respect of the container, they suspected something was wrong and ordered that the containers be subjected to an x-ray using the Vehicle and Container Inspection System. Following this, the containers were opened.

The documents said the 40-foot container contained plastic items. Although at first the Customs officials found only the plastic, other boxes in the container, towards the back, were found to hold cigarettes.

In a statement, the Customs Department said that the cigarettes had not been intercepted until the container was eventually opened because whoever packed the container had lined its sides with insulated metal doors that prevented the x-ray machine from identifying the contents.

In all, the customs officers found 858 boxes each containing 10,000 cigarettes. They also found 20 metal doors. It has not yet been ascertained if the cigarettes are counterfeit.