Smuggling and selling cigarettes is an exclusive activity for the leaders of the Iranian arm

English - Sunday 13 November 2022 الساعة 03:28 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, private:

 Informed sources confirmed that the leadership of the Houthi militia is active at a high rate in the “tobacco” trade of cigarettes, through a network of importers and smugglers, and selling them in the local market, after it stopped the cigarette factory affiliated with the government and the private sector.

The source told NewsYemen that all cigarettes enter his smuggler, and the Houthi leader, Ahmed Hamed, is responsible for supervising the process of smuggling them from taxes and customs and bringing them into the local market, and preventing checkpoints from stopping cigarette shipments.

The Houthi leader, Ahmed Hamid, works as the director of the office of Mahdi Al-Mashat, the so-called head of the Supreme Political Council, and he has great influence within the militia, and no Houthi leader dares to quarrel with him.

 According to Ministry of Finance data, cigarette tax revenues amounted to 60 billion riyals in 2014, but the Houthi militia smuggles cigarettes and does not subject them to customs and taxes, and sells them in the market, including tax.

According to the sources, the Houthi militia controls the cigarette market and sells them in the local market with tax, and generates profits of more than 100 billion riyals annually.

 The report of the United Nations Committee of Experts had confirmed in a previous report that tobacco sales constitute a major source of Houthi revenue.

 Since its coup against the state in September 2014, the Houthi militia has taken control of the Kamran Tobacco Company, looted its assets, and controlled its administrative and financial matters, until it led to bankruptcy and stopped its activity.

 The capital of the "Kamaran" company, which is a mixed sector, is estimated at seven billion riyals, and it is a public joint stock company in which the government's share reaches 27.81%, the British Tobacco Company owns 25% BAT, the Yemeni Bank for Reconstruction and Development owns 13.66%, and 33% belong to investors.

Observers confirm that smuggling has become an important source of financing for the military and ideological activities of the Houthi militia, noting that smuggling operations are not limited to cigarettes and oil derivatives, but also include counterfeit and fraudulent drugs and medicines, in addition to weapons and ammunition supplied by Iran.