Stop buying contraband in Poland! Really?

Quarter of adult Poles buy smuggled goods
31.10.2011 08:29
One-in-four Poles have admitted to an opinion pollster that they have, at sometime, bought goods that they knew were contraband.
Twenty three percent told the CBOS pollsters that they had bought smuggled goods, usually cigarettes or alcohol.
Five percent said that they had bought contraband petrol.
Men are three times more likely to buy smuggled goods, finds the survey.



The Polish government started a campaign: Stop to Smuggling! They claim it costs the state`s budget 6 billions zlotys annually. This money could create 200.000 new workplaces, a few hundred creches, or a tunnel for Tricity, or other facilities.

I don`t know what to think about it. The budget loses, indeed, and that`s umpatriotic, but what about millions of poor people in Poland who buy cheaper contraband goods? They spend less, don`t they?

Could you discuss it in a clever way so I know which side to support?

i probably would too, if i trusted the seller and the source.

so, no russian vodka, thanks.

i don't actually go out of my way to look for these things. i hardly drink and i'm trying to cut down on ciggies anyway.

in an ideal world it would be better if it didn't happen, but i also doubt that i'd see the benefit of that 6 billion zl

So do I. I don`t remember buying any smuggled goods.


Yes, that`s what I feel, too.

Atleast they dont try to tell you that buying a knock off DVD from some fella down the market is funding international terrorism lol
Ladies,dont buy that hooky Gucci handbag,if you do Al Quada gets a new AK 74.......
BTW, If anyones interested Ive just come in possesion of a full set of front landing gear for some airplane(only used once), drop us a pm if interested.

after a little thought:

why folks here don't have much guilt about such things. twenty years ago some of what was bought was 'made in Poland'. this included the latest music cassettes, films that hadn't actually been released in the cinema, clothes that were identical to leading brands, computer software that came from someones living-room. and there were even cards to watch sky tv, although they had to be updated every month or so.

now we have illegal downloads of music and films, which i know also goes on in other countries too.

the reason twenty-five percent admit to accepting smuggled goods is: because it was ok in the past so it's ok now.

When Ive heard a Pole talk about how she smuggled george orwell books through the berlin wall and back into Poland in the early 80s it doesnt exactly surprise me people are happy to buy a few Ukrainian cigs :)

government as the middleman begging not to get cut out. ;)
By the same logic, you should buy the most expensive car and go out to restaurants instead of cooking at home. If you don't, you're depriving someone of their job. Horsesht.

It's illegal, but will exist so long as people buy smuggled goods. The problem isn't even in any poverty in my opinion. People buy cigarettes and alcohol. I'm pretty sure that at least 50% of people buying illegal goods can afford for the same goods in a shop.

Ah good old Lucky Strikes. A great smoke. Could never find them over here, unfortunately.

Why does the Tricity need a tunnel? From where to where?

From Tricity to Sweden?

It is amusing but garlic has become one of staples smuggled into Poland, together with UK and Italy.

nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10858400

The EU imposes a 9.6 per cent duty on imported foreign garlic in an attempt to prevent the continent's growers from being driven out of business by Chinese farmers.

But the duty, which came into force in 2001, has led to a surge in illicit imports. Police in Britain, Ireland, Austria and Poland arrested smugglers for illegally importing at least €3 million worth of garlic into the EU last year alone.

PS. I don`t buy Chinese garlic as it is weird, so different than the Polish one.

wbj.pl/article-61527-illegal-garlic-costs-poland-eu-millions.html?typ=pam

Smuggling garlic has become a lucrative crime in the EU, ever since the bloc intruduced a duty of 9.5 percent on the herb. According to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the UK, Italy and Poland are the member states most vulnerable to Chinese garlic being smuggled in. The EU has lost millions of euro because of the illegal smuggling of garlic from China, "not to mention the indirect losses by means of unfair competition and loss of market share by EU producers," Pavel Borkovec from OLAF was quoted by the BBC as saying.

According to Mr Borkovec, smugglers usually declare that the transported garlic comes from a countries such as Turkey or Egypt, with which the EU has preferential customs agreements, or they declare that they are transporting some other vegetable or fruit.

For example, in January 2011, Polish customs officers discovered a load of 144 metric tons of Chinese garlic, which was declared as onions. The smugglers were attempting to avoid paying some €180,000 in duties, Rzeczpospolita reported.

It basically boils down to whether you believe in rule of law or view every situation as an individual choice based on self-interest.

I have nearly 400 CD's and DVD's that I carry in my gear. Weight is about 12 kilos. They're all legal though.

When I got to Azerbaijan some of my fellow teachers were astonished that I didn't understand I could buy first run movies and all sorts of music for less than $5 a disk. First, I told them that I was well aware of this. Then I pointed out even that would be almost $2000 to replace all of these movies.

If you believe in the law, don't buy smuggled goods. If you believe that anything is okay as long as it benefits you (possibly mitigated by how much it affects others) then buy smuggled goods.

Don't expect sympathy though if you complain about why government cannot afford to maintain the army, offer free/low-cost education or build roads (or even tunnels).

Yes, right.

Taking loads of cigarettes home for personal use is not smuggling. Poland is in the EU and tax is paid to the EU. This is not smuggling. It is only smuggling when somebody sells them on

No.
illegal =! immoral

Law is made by people, it may by right or wrong. Law is just a set of codified norms based on numerous factors, some of which may be outdated or passed with wrong/malicious intent.

I would not buy stolen goods, under no condition. That would be immoral. But contraband? Come on, only policemen or custom officers, and other such perverts, consider it a crime.

I would imagine Poland, like most countries has a dollar or quantity limit. Staying under it or having your friends carry through on their allowances hardly constitutes smuggling.

Smugglers use new techniques and gadgets today. E.g., Border Guards announced they seized a few boxes with illegal cigarettes from the Ukraine which had been dropped onto Polish territory by a drone. Amazing!

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I'd be surprised if that hasn't been going on for a long time; smugglers are way ahead of the game. In some places they use submarines.

A decade or so ago the border guards or whoever discovered a pipe (probably a very long buried hosepipe) for getting petrol into Poland across the eastern border.

And there's the Polish guy who way arrested in France last week driving into the UK with several kilos of cocaine disguised as onion rings...

After cannabis, cocaine is the most consumed drug in Europe.
Europe is becoming a hub for production and trans-shipment of cocaine to other regions of the world.
The E.U. is a major consumption market of the cocaine being manufactured in the E.U. along with the expanding methamphetamine industry.
Hopefully Poland is smart enough to keep their noses clean.

500kg of cocaine has just been found disguised as coffee at the Nespresso factory in Switzerland. It's a big market here in Europe since of course it's the most affluent population.

Presumably they're looking for new routes into Europe now that russia is lost. At least none now comes via Poland.

It could be laced with fentanyl these days. Its like playing RuSSian roulette with that garbage.


Where do they grow Coca plants in Europe?


And pills are being counterfeited and laced with fentanyl as well. If it doesnt come from a doctor dont take it!

I'm not much bothered for the stuff myself and certainly not for buying it however a friend in the U.K. does get it and it just seems a massive waste of money. It's certainly cut with something too, probably low grade speed. He could have done a lot with the cash he's spent on it.


In Poland now there's something called 'cukierki' (sweets) that are popular. Apparently like old-fashioned ecstasy but of course there could be anything in them. As far as I know they're very cheap.

I knew this guy back in the 90s who did a lot of coke and then he inherited a large sum of money and then started smoking crack. 2 months later he died from a massive heart attack at 33 years of age.


The Mexican cartels are producing counterfeit pills of every type laced with fentanyl and other chemicals.

Another friend was using it. Then more and more and more until he'd spent a fortune on it. Eventually it brought on schizophrenia and he ended up almost on the street.