Legislators are trying once again to curb cigarette smuggling, both into and out of North Carolina, by re-establishing a stamp on cigarette packs. This year, the odds look better than in the past, and that is good. North Carolina has long had one of the lowest state cigarette taxes. Because of that, organized crime and terrorist organizations have bought cigarettes here and resold them illegally in high-tax states. In recent years, cigarettes ha ... Jump to full article >>

More violent criminal gangs and drug traffickers are turning to illegal smokes as a reliable moneymaker. WASHINGTON – Cigarette smuggling is becoming big business for drug traffickers and violent criminal gangs, law enforcement officials and court records show. Contributing to the increase has been the boost in state tobacco taxes across the country. The Mackinac Center for public policy found that 27 states have hiked cigarette taxes during ... Jump to full article >>

WASHINGTON — A recent wave of state tobacco tax increases, designed to pump revenue into cash-strapped local governments, is inspiring an increasingly dangerous cigarette smuggling industry where big profits lure violent criminal gangs and drug traffickers into the booming illegal market, according to law enforcement officials and court records. Larry Penninger, acting director of the tobacco diversion unit of teh Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, F ... Jump to full article >>

The sale of smuggled cigarettes in Spain has soared since the government raised the tax rate on tobacco, a spokesman for Franco-Spanish tobacco producer Altadis said Monday. The company estimates smuggled cigarettes accounted for around six percent of Spain’s total cigarette consumption during the first three months of the year, compared to just one percent in all of 2010, the spokesman said. The problem is especially high in the southwest ... Jump to full article >>

JACKSON, Miss. — A federal sentencing hearing has been rescheduled in the case of a Florida man convicted in Mississippi for his role in a multistate cigarette smuggling operation. Mitchell Sivina, of Doral, Fla., pleaded guilty in May in U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss., to money laundering and transporting stolen cigarettes. Court records show Sivina’s sentencing has been delayed from March until April 4 due to a scheduling con ... Jump to full article >>

THE number of foreigners arrested for immigration offences has hit a ten-year low, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Monday. In 2010, the total number of foreigners arrested for immigration offences fell by 23 per cent to 4,260 compared to the previous year. The number of people arrested for harbouring or employing illegal immigrants has also fallen, by four and 48 per cent respectively. Attempts by immigration offenders ... Jump to full article >>

Teaming up with officials from the Virginia State Police, Iredell deputies may have uncovered a cigarette smuggling operation. Iredell Sheriff Phil Redmond said members of the Interstate Criminal Enforcement (ICE) team spotted a 1998 Lincoln Navigator on Interstate 77 near the 61 mile marker around 9:15 a.m. Monday for a traffic violation. While speaking with the driver and occupant, the deputies noticed a large number of boxes in black trash ba ... Jump to full article >>

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Wednesday foiled two separate cigarette smuggling attempts. Duties and taxes on the 1,900 cartons of cigarettes amounted to some $144,000. In the first case, two Malaysians were caught at the Tuas Checkpoint for trying to smuggle contraband cigarettes hidden in a modified compartment within the floorboard of a consignment of hydrated lime. Preliminary investigations showed the Indian driver had ... Jump to full article >>

For years, buying low-tax North Carolina cigarettes and selling them on the black market in a high-tax state up north has been an easy way to make big money for criminal enterprises. Load up a van of Camels or Marlboros and reap a $100,000 profit to sell them if the destination is New York City, which has a $1.50-per-pack excise tax in addition to the $2.75 state cigarette tax. “The cigarette tax evasion stampede is out of control,” ... Jump to full article >>

Maryland’s recently enacted $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase has been a budgetary and public health success for which Gov. Martin O’Malley and the General Assembly should be proud. In the year after it took effect on Jan. 1, 2008, the cigarette tax increase brought $144 million in additional funds into the state coffers, which have helped to fund Maryland’s recent health care expansion. This expansion brought health care cove ... Jump to full article >>