Crime Stoppers International

Background

Crime Stoppers International (CSI) says it is a “global non-profit organization representing seven regions committed to support law enforcement efforts to prevent and solve crime by mobilizing citizens to anonymously report illegal activity”.¹

Links to the tobacco industry

Senior tobacco industry staff have been invited to speak at Crime Stoppers International Conferences, and some have profile pages on the CSI website.

Links with Philip Morris International

Alvise Giustiniani, Vice President Illicit Trade Prevention, Philip Morris International (PMI), was invited to give a presentation at the CSI conference in October 2018.² Mr. Giustiniani has a profile page on the CSI website, summarizing his 25 years of work at PMI. ³. Nicolas Otte, Director Illicit Trade Strategies & Prevention ( Latin America & Canada) for PMI was listed as a speaker at the conference in 2017. ⁴⁵

Links with British American Tobacco

In 2018, Thomas Compernolle, former Senior Global Engagement Manager and current EU affairs Director of British American Tobacco (BAT), was invited to speak at the 39th Crime Stoppers International conference. John Padgett, BAT Government Affairs Manager, Tax, Trade and Anti-Illicit Trade (Caribbean and Central America), was listed on the programme the previous year.⁶

Links with Japan Tobacco International

Ian Monteith, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Senior Global Director for Anti Illicit Trade ( Diversion, and Seizure Investigations) was invited to speak at the conference in 2018 and has his own profile page on the website of CSI. ⁷

Global Activities with the Tobacco Industry

Representatives of tobacco companies have attended ‘capacity building’ workshops run by CSI and the organisation has collaborated with the industry on illicit trade initiatives. The organisation is also a partner with TRACIT, a non-governmental organisation with extensive tobacco industry links and campaigns on illicit trade at a government and international level.

Asia

In October 2018, CSI and Crime Stoppers Australia (CSA) ran an “Anti-Illicit Trade Business Summit and Capacity Building” training course, attended by Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International. As well as the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigations, and local intellectual property organisations, attendees included the UK Intellectual Property Office, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC, UK), and United States Homeland Security Investigations. CSI also announced that they would be “commencing operations” in the Philippines in 2019.⁸

Europe

In 2015, CSI collaborated with Japan Tobacco International to provide a helpline to report illegal tobacco trade across the UK.⁹

Latin America

On Crime Stoppers International’s website, under the section on illicit trade, it describes a collaboration in 2016 between Crime Stoppers and the tobacco industry in Latin America as a “success story”. This initiative, called ‘Denuncie Hoy’ (Report Today), focused on illicit cigarette trade in El Salvador, Central America, and was expected to expand to Guatemala.¹⁰

Africa

South African journalist Yusuf Abramjee has been collaborating with CSI since 2007, when he was working, and later heading, the initiative called Crime Line.¹¹ This consists of an online platform for anonymous tips on crime in South Africa. ¹² Abramjee became Head of Global Communications for CSl in 2015 and later, in 2018, was promoted to Vice-President.¹³

Yusuf Abramjee is also the spokesperson for the social media initiative #TakeBackTheTax in South Africa, seeking to reduce the tax for tobacco. This initiative has been funded by The Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (TISA), whose tobacco company members include Japan Tobacco International, Philip Morris International, Imperial Brands (previously Imperial Tobacco) and British American Tobacco offices in South Africa. The International Tobacco Growers Association, an industry front group, is also a member of TISA.¹⁴

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Tobacco Smuggling
• Yusuf Abramjee
• Japan Tobacco International
• Philip Morris International
• British American Tobacco
• Imperial Tobacco