As much as 22% of imported alcohol is believed to enter T&T illegally, while 5% to 10% of the market share of tobacco comes from illicit trade.

These estimations came from Trade Ministry Acting Permanent Secretary Randall Karim as he spoke at a T&T Manufacturing Association forum on combating illicit trade.

Mr Karim said over the last five years, over 14,000 units of alcohol were seized, with over 11,000 coming in 2023 alone.

Approximately 270,000 units of varying brands of cigarettes were seized as a result of operations across T&T.

Also confiscated were large quantities of tablets, vials and bottles of sub-standard and falsified pharmaceuticals.

Mr Karim added that public-private collaboration is crucial and noted that the private sector was invited to serve on all working groups of the national Task Force formed to tackle illicit trade.