2,250 cartons of fake cigarettes from Singapore seized at Washington airport, says US Customs & Border Protection

VIRGINIA: The United States Customs and Border Protection said in a statement on Friday (Aug 21) that 2,250 cartons of counterfeit Camel cigarettes had been seized at Washington Dulles International Airport on August 14.

The cartons were in a shipment that arrived at the airport from Singapore through Japan last month. Had the cigarettes been authentic, they would have been worth more than half a million dollars.

The shipment’s destination had been to an address in Miami and contained 45 boxes that bore a label that read “Camel Yellow Cigarettes.” In each box was 50 cartons of cigarettes that carried the Camel brand.

However, the authorities flagged the shipment when they noticed that the design on the cartons had a rather different logo and markings, and found that the shipment routing was unusual, since the Camel brand of cigarettes is manufactured in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Officers from Customs and Border Protection then spoke to trade experts at the agency’s Agriculture and Prepared Products Center of Excellence and Expertise, which in turn reached out to the owner and manufacturer of the Camel cigarette brand in the US, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

The company confirmed that the cigarettes from the shipment from Singapore were fake.

According to the agency’s appraisal, if the cigarettes in the shipment had been authentic, they would have been worth US $404,842 (approximately S$514,253). 

Area Port Director Christine Waugh, CBP Area Port of Washington, DC, said, “Counterfeit cigarettes deprive the United States of tax revenue and pose a serious health concern to smokers who have no idea what, if any, dangerous chemicals they are actually inhaling with the tobacco. Intercepting counterfeit products is a Customs and Border Protection trade enforcement priority and one way in which we can help keep consumers safe.” 

In 2025, US authorities seized almost 15 million counterfeit goods, which, if they had been genuine, would have been worth more than US$$7.4 billion (approximately S$9.40 billion). This averages to more than US$20 million (approximately S$25.41 billion) daily. /TISG

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