€11,000 worth of contraband cigarettes seized by Customs in 2021 so far

Oct 21 2021

Customs have revealed that around 78kg of illegal smokeless tobacco and 53,259 heels tobacco seeks have been seized by Customs in the past 9 months. In their continuous fight against contraband products, 389,900 cigarettes have been seized between January and September of this year.

This amounts to €11,359 in market value, with the endangered taxes of the lot amounting to €65,430 in excise duty. €14,868 amounted in VAT and €6,276 amounted in import duty.

When it comes to tobacco, 20kgs of the substance was confiscated. Amounting to a total market value of €467, excise duty amounted to €676, VAT to €295, and import duty to €2727.

During the first nine months of this year, 78kgs of smokeless tobacco and 53,259 pieces of heels tobacco were also confiscated. As per Legal Notice 67, both tobacco products are illegal in Malta.

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Photo Source: Communications Customs

Wembley Stadium will be offering sign language for every live event

Oct 20 2021

London’s music and sports Wembley Stadium has officially announced that for every live concert starting from June 2022, it will be offering sign language. The announcement makes Wembley the biggest venue in the UK to offer British Sign Language (BSL) as a guaranteed service for its attendees. BSL interpretation was only offered if it was pre-booked ahead of time. However, this guarantees the availability of BSL for the Deaf community.

It will be starting with Ed Sheeran’s tour shows no less, with Wembley’s Paul Smyth saying that this news is a delight to announce as it makes Wembley an inclusive stadium to be enjoyed by all for the long term. ‘We look forward to hoisting our Deaf customers at future gigs and hope that they feel the benefit of this vital service at Wembley Stadium’ Smyth remarked.

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Photo Source: Steve Parsons

Maneskin release their latest music video for ‘MAMMAMIA’

Oct 20 2021

The wait is finally over as 2021’s Eurovision winners Maneskin release their music video for ‘MAMMAMIA’. And the concept? Well, band members Victoria De Angelis, Thomas Raggi and Ethan Torchio fantasise about killing frontman Damiano David because he’s annoying. He is even murdered different ways, with Ethan plunging Damiano’s head in a toilet and Victoria stabbing him repeatedly after he catches her getting physical with another woman.

The three-minute music video is bursting with libido, rhythm and murder, with director Spanish film director Rei Nadal having worked on fashion films for brands such as Nike x OFF-WHITE. With the words ‘Rest In Piss’ splattered on the wall, the music video keeps up with Maneskin’s iconic look and vibe. The Italian band made waves after their Eurovision success, their music going international almost overnight.

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Largest marijuana plantation in Europe busted by police

Oct 20 2021

A facility in Huerta de Valdecarábanos, Toledo, Spain, spanned around 120,000 square metres and was supposedly being used to grow hemp for industrial use. However, the zone which is approximately the size of 16 standard football fields, was discovered to be growing Cannabis sativa. Police officers from the Civil Guard inspected the farm and found the plant, genetically modified to look like legal hemp. Upon return, officers seized a whopping 135,000 marijuana plants – the largest seizure ever made in Europe.

With three arrests, a further 30 tonnes of dried marijuana and 3,720kg of buds were intercepted in nearby warehouses which were ready for distribution. Another 112kg of buds which were declared to be simply plants were been seized at Madrid’s main airport. A civil guard spokesperson revealed that the workers at the farm were mostly foreigners, employed in an unofficial manner and housed in an area which did not meet the most minimal conditions of habitability.

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Photo Source: Pen News