1.   American intelligence officials say he is a major cigarette smuggler.

2.   A navy patrol boat fired on cigarette smugglers, wounding two, and detained their vessel, the Lebanese military said in a statement Saturday.

3.   In August, an alleged Italian cigarette smuggler, Saverio Benvenuto, was killed by gunmen in a seaside town southeast of Athens.

4.   Italian anti-Mafia investigators had photographed the official with an alleged top international cigarette smuggler.

5.   The police recognized him as a cigarette smuggler from Vietnam, who had been living illegally in Germany after his application for asylum was turned down.

6.   Five Vietnamese died last month in Berlin in gang warfare linked to such traffic, and the Berlin authorities have launched a campaign against the cigarette smugglers.

7.   The police spokesman ruled out racism as the motive for the murders, as well as links with cigarette smugglers.

8.   Seven syndicates of cigarette smugglers are active in Singapore, according to the customs department, which says it aims to put them out of business this year.