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German customs have warned that counterfeit Red Marlboro cigarettes may flood into Europe from Vietnam contaminated with lethal radiation.

Officials at German air and seaports have been issued with geiger counters to read radioactive signals after a batch of the bogus cigarettes were intercepted in Warsaw, Poland, earlier this year.

The packages contain flawless tax and warning stamps in both Polish and German.

But more than nicotine or tar lurks within them - they have been found to be contaminated with Strontium 90, used in nuclear weapons and with applications for industry and medicine.

Polish and German authorities are probing whether the Polish batch - found hidden in a box of frozen shrimp - were accidentally or deliberately exposed to radiation.

If the latter, they could be used as a covert means of assassination.

Smoking the irradiated cigarettes would lead to serious burning of the airways, followed by poisoning leading to death.