Using a stolen lorry, a pallet jack and an angle grinder, thieves broke into Cigge's warehouse. They got away with 100,000 disposable vapes worth €4 million.
"They are probably sold on the black market by now," says Viktor Bryn-Jensen, legal manager at Eurobrands Distribution and Cigge.
At the end of February, thieves used a stolen mini-truck and an angle grinder to break into the warehouse of the Cigge retail chain in Borlänge. Despite the alarm being raised, the thieves managed to get four pallets of e-cigarettes (disposable models).
Various estimates of the value of the stolen goods are circulating in the media. However, according to Viktor Bryn-Jensen these are one-off models with a purchase value of 4 million.
"More precisely, we are talking about 100,000 IVG disposable vaporisers, which Eurobrands distributes to companies such as Direkten and Preem." says Viktor Bryn-Jensen.
Selling them for half the price
According to police information to Falu Kuriren some DNA traces of the thief's behaviour have been recovered during the burglary. However, no 100 000 single-use models have been found. Viktor Bryn-Jensen believe that most of them have been sold or taken out of the country by now.
"We have received some calls from retailers who have been approached by people wanting to sell IVGs to them for half price, without a receipt. So although I still believe that most of it was shipped out of the country, it seems that someone is also trying to sell them black here in Sweden. But there's no way to prove anything, and the people who are trying to sell them are very difficult to trace," says Mr Perez. Viktor Bryn-Jensen to Vejpkollen.
Many thefts over the years
Eurobrands and Cigge has stores in Borlänge, Västerås, Örebro, Uppsala and Linköping and is Sweden's largest retailer of e-cigarettes. The company became part of the Norwegian harm reduction group Norse Impact just last year. Viktor Bryn-Jensen notes that there have been many thefts and burglaries since the first store opened almost 10 years ago.
"Yes, we have probably had nearly ten burglaries over the years. But this is by far the biggest." says Viktor Bryn-Jensen to Vejpkollen.
How does this affect you financially?
"Of course it's an issue. E-cigarettes are counted as tobacco products and this means that we receive a standardised value instead of the actual value via the insurance. Fortunately, this is about our back-up stock, so the end customers are not affected to any great extent" says Viktor Bryn-Jensen
Must be registered
Disposable models, like all other types of e-cigarettes and e-liquid, must be registered in Sweden six months before sales begin. Once a product is registered, any shop with an approved chemical licence and notification to the municipality can sell the products.
