Of course, none of this is new – we’ve been writing about it for aeons now. But because so much time has lapsed since this story initially broke in SA, perhaps a recap is in order.
Years ago, BAT took off the gloves in a bid to claw back market share from competitors who emerged selling the same product, but cheaper.
BAT’S strategy was simple: disrupt its competitors to the point of making it impossible for them to operate.
To do this, BAT relied on a security firm — Forensic Security Services (FSS) — to co-ordinate activities, under the guiding hand of British American Tobacco SA’s (BAT SA’s) anti-illicit trade head. But it also used a series of in-place “agents” at its competitors’ businesses even as it co-opted law enforcement agencies and deployed a shared agent with the State Security Agency (SSA): triple agent and honey trap Belinda Walter.
All of this was monitored from BAT’s global headquarters, Globe House in London.
One
former employee explained it as follows: “Our primary work description
was to spy on competitors and disrupt business operations on behalf of
BAT SA, [which] was fully aware that FSS was obtaining information
illegally, and these (sic) included obtaining recorded conversations.” more
