Ukrainian cigarette smuggler caught in Carinthia

A man from Ukraine was arrested after police found more than 400 cigarette cartons in his car.

The 30-year-old was stopped during in a traffic check on the A2 southern motorway in Villach-Land district, Carinthia, near the Austrian border with Italy yesterday evening (Weds).

He was put in custody after 425 cigarette cartons were discovered in a hollow space under the backseat of his vehicle.

Up to 17 per cent of all cigarettes consumed in Austria could be smuggled into the country to be sold at low prices illegally, according to the finance ministry.