Smuggling is an issue that's faced by the majority of borders across the world, and in the UK, tobacco smuggling has been difficult to eradicate. There definitely is a way within which you can control smuggling, though, but I reckon it's almost impossible to eradicate entirely.
When people think of smuggling cigarettes and other items/people into the UK, they often think of stashes of goods hidden in the back of vans. But this really isn't the case.
Yes, people try to bring extra cigarettes back from their holidays to sell, and some dodgy characters smuggle a few stolen items in the back of their vans. The biggest issue however comes from large-scale containers that are disguised as legitimate trade containers, but often carry millions of cigarettes that have been smuggled into the country.
How can you control smuggling?
The main measures put in place to control smuggling are the deployment of more Customs security measures. This includes officers, intelligence staff, x-ray machines etc. And this is usually coupled with harsh penalties to deter potential smugglers.
Is it effective?
Yes and no. Additional security measures help to catch more smugglers, and harsh penalties deter a certain amount of potential smugglers. It's near enough impossible to completely eradicate smuggling, however, as criminals always find new methods to get their goods into the country. Let's just hope that they get caught out sooner rather than later!
Here's a great little video of Customs in action in the UK: