Seven businesses were raided Wednesday morning after a nearly four-month investigation into illegal tobacco sales in Hampton. Police simultaneously served search warrants on the businesses at 9 a.m. They confiscated 4,390 packs of cigarettes from the businesses worth $21,950, according to Lt. Jim Crotts of the Hampton police department. In May of 2009 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began conducting smoking op ... Jump to full article >>

A Fairmount Heights man was charged Friday with attempted theft and several counts of forgery after he tried to use a counterfeit check to buy more than $8,000 worth of Newport cigarettes from a Waldorf Sam’s Club, police said. Sounds stupid, except that Nathaniel A. Stewart, 44, had tried the same scheme three times before and not been arrested, police said. Once, he successfully purchased more than $8,000 in smokes, they said. “He ... Jump to full article >>

TRENTON, N.J. – A New Jersey judge has imposed more than $760,000 in penalties and fees against a New York-based tobacco seller that offered mail-order, “tax-free” cigarettes to New Jersey consumers. New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced the ruling in the state’s lawsuit against Salamanca, N.Y.-based Red Jacket Tobacco on Monday. Superior Court Judge Maria Sypek found that Red Jacket and its owner, Lesley Hoa ... Jump to full article >>

Tobacco companies jointly filed a lawsuit in Kentucky against the U.S. and the Food and Drug Administration, claiming a law signed by President Obama in June of this year imposes “unprecedented restrictions” on First Amendments Rights. For instance, the law prohibits tobacco companies from jointly marketing their cigarettes with non-tobacco products. Also, they can’t market or describe any products as less harmful than others ... Jump to full article >>