A few days ago, there was a rather interesting article on Moneycontrol. It said — “The value of illegal cigarettes seized in the first 11 months of FY21 has spiked to Rs 1,772 crore from just Rs 187 crore in FY20, according to figures made available by the Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs (CBIC).” And while the article does go on to explain why this might have been the case, we thought we could offer you more context by explaining why cigarette smuggling is so rampant in the first place.