An almost 20-ton shipment of cigarette packs that entered Mexico illegally, valued at over 70 million pesos, was seized by personnel from the Secretariat of the Navy-Mexican Navy (Semar) and Customs officials at Mexico City International Airport (AICM). Through a press release, Semar reported that the total weight of tobacco smuggled into Mexico was 19,779 kilograms, equivalent to 954,380 cigarette packs, with a commercial value of 70.7 million pesos. The discovery was made following intelligence operations to combat the illegal tobacco trade, detecting six shipments of thousands of cigarette packs from Narita, Japan, between December 22, 2025, and January 3 of this year. The cigarettes intended to be brought into Mexico without paying the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS), estimated at 17.03 pesos per pack, attempted to evade tax payment totaling 16 million 224,460 pesos, a figure corresponding to the IEPS for the more than 954,000 packs seized. According to the investigation, a network of importers presented false declarations to bring cigarettes from Japan to Mexico, declaring them as general merchandise or shopping bags. Additionally, they provided air waybills with altered data, mixing the illicit cargo with legitimate shipments on commercial flights, relying on the formal logistics of import companies that managed customs clearance in Mexico. Once in the country, clandestine distribution was carried out in the domestic market, posing health risks and affecting revenue collection and intellectual property. Although federal authorities have not named any presumed responsible parties for the illegal shipment, there are precedents for other cases linking the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) with cigarette smuggling and clandestine sales, even pressuring owners of grocery stores to sell the illegal product. The detection was the result of coordinated work between the Navy and Customs, as well as information exchange with Japanese authorities, the federal government reported.
