Cigarette Smuggling Big Business At Costa Rica's Border With Panama

The anti-tobacco legislation applied in Panama last year, which increased the price of cigarettes, had led to an increase in smuggling of tobacco products from Costa Rica.


The president of the Cámara Costarricense de Restaurantes y Afines, Edgar Marin, says the situation has led his group to file charges with the Ministerio de Salud and the Ministerio de Seguridad.

Marin explained that the Panamanians do not come to Costa Rica just to buy oil and other products, but also cigarettes for resale in their country, where a pack of cigarettes purchases here for us$1.50 sells for us$5 in Panama.

Costa Rica and El Salvador are the only countries that have not adopted anti-tobacco laws in Central America.