ALLEGEDLY stolen tobacco leaf and cigarettes with a value of $50,000 have been found in a car stopped by police in southern New South Wales. Police pulled over the Holden Commodore Holden Commodore on the Hume Highway about 45km north of Goulburn just after 6pm (AEDT) yesterday. Inside were 23kg of compressed tobacco leaf, 70,000 cigarettes, and almost $8000 in Australian and US currency, police say. The tobacco leaf and cigarettes are estimated ... Jump to full article >>

Roque Fabiano da Silveira, a Brazilian cigarette smuggler who lives in Paraguay and was once arrested for smuggling in the United States, was again arrested last week by Paraguayan federal police, according to a report in the newspaper ABC Color. Silveira was featured in a 2009 ICIJ report, “Smuggling Made Easy,” published as part of the Tobacco Underground series on the global trade in illicit cigarettes. The new charges say Silveira and a ... Jump to full article >>

The Singapore Customs recently realised that that has been an influx of illegal cigarettes in the black market. They also pointed out that ccigarettes bearing the brand “Moon Mountain” are currently not supplied by any local tobacco importer or wholesaler licensed by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA). The customs believe that these cigarettes are being smuggled into Singapore by syndicates. The cigarettes resemble legitimate cigar ... Jump to full article >>

UK Border Agency officers have seized five tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco that was hidden in a lorry as it entered the country at Dover’s Eastern Docks. The Czech-registered vehicle arrived on a ferry from Calais and was stopped by officers at the inward freight controls. After questioning the 39-year-old Czech driver, officers searched the vehicle and trailer. The haul of tobacco, with Luxembourg tax stamps, was found in 11 shrink wrappe ... Jump to full article >>

PHUKET: Officials from the Phuket Excise Office yesterday seized 956 packs of illegally imported cigarettes and packs of tobacco with a total street value of about 100,000 baht. Most of the contraband was imported by post, said Excise officer Chingchai Borwornthanasan. Three people were arrested in the raid: Yusaree Yun from Pattani, and Ussamarn Wangdee and Je-padeemoh Yun, both Phuket natives. The cigarettes and tobacco seized were expensive b ... Jump to full article >>

A youth with a pistol grabbed a woman by the throat in a Coromandel shop before making off with packets of tobacco, police said today. The woman, who was behind the counter at the Boomerang Store in Te Puru, north of Thames on Saturday morning, was shaken by the incident, police said. The offender, described as a male caucasian teenager, entered the shop alone at 6.48am with a pistol-type firearm. Detective Constable Andre Kavanagh said the off ... Jump to full article >>

THE Penang Customs Department has foiled yet another attempt to smuggle in contraband cigarettes at the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT). Officers from the department’s northern region intelligence unit seized RM463,936 worth of cigarettes, with unpaid duties amounting to RM2.02mil during a raid at 6pm on Tuesday. State Customs and Excise Department director Datuk Zulkifli Yahya said the contraband that was initially declared as fe ... Jump to full article >>

Customs and border protection staff in Brisbane have seized more than 2.5 million illegally imported cigarettes. They were found in a shipping container from Hong Kong earmarked to contain bubble wrap and lunch boxes. Under the Customs Act the penalty for smuggling and evading duty is five times the amount of tax evaded and a possible 10-year jail sentence. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor says the seizure of that many counterfeit ci ... Jump to full article >>

ALBANY — The state’s top tax collector said the state is ready to quickly end tax-free cigarette sales by Indian retailers to non-Indian customers. New York State is awaiting a ruling from a federal appeals court on the long-simmering tobacco tax issue, said Thomas Mattox, who was confirmed Tuesday by the State Senate to the tax commissioner’s post. “We’re prepared to enforce immediately,” Mattox said after b ... Jump to full article >>

DANVILLE — Every package of cigarettes sold in Illinois adds money to the state’s school fund. Illinois tags a 98-cent tax on every package of cigarettes sold in the state, collecting an estimated $560 million during fiscal year 2010. The tax stands almost as a twin to Indiana’s cigarette tax — which is 99.5 cents per pack. Illinois’ tax rate ranks 32nd nationally, with Indiana’s rate coming in at number 33. Some members of the Illin ... Jump to full article >>