TESTIMONY. "Smuggling, you get three packs for the price of one": faced with tobacco trafficking, tobacconists are on their knees The main thing Between 10 and 40% of the tobacco consumed is linked to the parallel economy. Like the tobacconists' federations, Virginie Mailliet, a shopkeeper in Castres, is worried about the ravages of smuggling on her sales. The crowd is large this Monday afternoon at the Castres tobacco shop "Le Caporal". However, not all customers come to buy tobacco. "We are forced to buy groceries, packages... Fortunately I have a lot of other things," explains the manager, Virginie Mailliet. "There has been a 50% drop in the volumes of tobacco sold over the past 25 years"... [Read more]