Israeli-Made Cigarettes Mysteriously Appear in Moroccan Markets

Smokers and tobacconists were surprised to find that the cigarette packs intended for Israel are being sold in certain cities in Morocco, particularly in El Jadida. These packs not only have Hebrew inscriptions and a health warning in Arabic and Hebrew, but also the Moroccan tax stamp.

Contacted by Le360, Philip Morris Morocco (PMM) provided clarification. The company stated that these are indeed "authentic Philip Morris International cigarette packs manufactured in Turkey for the Israeli market". However, an error occurred during the production process of an order intended for the Moroccan market, which had been preceded by another order for the Israeli market.

"As a result, a few cartons inadvertently bore Moroccan tax stamps and were loaded into the shipment sent to the kingdom," explained the Moroccan subsidiary of the cigarette manufacturer.

"We would like to emphasize that these products were cleared through customs and paid the TIC, but since the control is done by sample, we were unable to detect this error at the time of delivery," Philip Morris Morocco said. The company assures that it is currently in the process of withdrawing all these cartons intended initially for Israel from the national market.