More than half of the cigarettes smoked in the department are contraband, which, in addition to harming smokers’ lungs, also strains the already overburdened healthcare system in the region.
This is according to a survey by the National Federation of Departments (FND), conducted by Invamer, which shows that 51% of the cigarettes sold in Antioquia last year were illegal. The survey highlights that this trade is on the rise, reminiscent of times that seemed to be over: when mafias were dedicated to smuggling Marlboro cigarettes into the country.
Looking at the figures for 2022, the percentage was 37%, but since then it has been steadily increasing. By 2023, the percentage had reached 40%, and by 2024, 43% of cigarettes sold in Antioquia were illegal.
The department even surpasses the national average, since in the other 32 departments, the percentage of contraband cigarettes sold reached 38% last year. The alarming fact is that in 2011, the figure was only 16%, and in 2018 it was 35%.
The most commonly consumed contraband cigarettes in Antioquia are Rumba, from Paraguay; Carnival, from South Korea; and Win, which comes from China. In many cases, they enter the country through smuggling networks that evade any control by the authorities and are sold in small quantities in neighborhood stores.
Major Daniel Felipe Rojas López, head of the operational control unit of the Fiscal and Customs Police (Polfa) in the Aburrá Valley, explained that these cigarettes enter the country illegally through networks that operate in the three countries in question, arriving via La Guajira, Panama, or the ports of Barranquilla and Santa Marta. From there, they are distributed by truck.
The problem is that the prices of legal 20-cigarette packs are much higher than those of illegal ones. Last year, a pack of a legal brand cost, on average, $12,400, while an illegal pack cost only $4,900.
This difference is due to the fact that legal companies must allocate $6,212 in consumption tax and VAT, which increases their price and drives consumers toward cheaper options, without questioning their legality.
This has led to a drastic impact on departmental coffers, with resources lost from the health sector. Last year alone, the department lost $420.032 billion in tax revenue, while legal cigarette sellers contributed $393.174 billion to Antioquia, according to the National Federation of Departments (FND).
