Counterfeit Cigarettes: An Enforcement Forum

From: The Dispatch (Ocean City, MD)

By News Editor, Shawn J. Soper

OCEAN CITY — Two local business owners, indicted by a New York grand jury last week for enterprise corruption and money laundering, were extradited to New York Wednesday and were expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

Last week, federal officials concluded an investigation into a vast multi-million dollar cigarette smuggling operation with raids on two locations in and around the resort area, including the West Ocean City homes of residents Basel Ramadan, 42, who is being called the “boss” of the enterprise, and Samir Ramadan, 40, who is Basel Ramadan’s brother and has been called the “enterprise treasurer.” Federal officials also raided the Ramadan’s offices over the Subway restaurant they own at Sunset Drive near 26th Street in Ocean City on the same day.

From: NACS/The Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing

A New York Post op-ed piece cites a need for better enforcement of the city’s tobacco laws by addressing cigarette smuggling.

NEW YORK – New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly wrote an op-ed earlier this week for the New York Post, highlighting the need for the state to better enforce its tobacco laws by addressing cigarette smuggling.

Referencing last week’s indictment of 16 members of a multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling ring, Kelly said the illicit proceeds from similar schemes have been used to fund terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

From: Press Release

Dubai , UAE – May 22, 2013:

The dilemma facing GCC finance ministers as they deliberate over a 100% increase in duty on tobacco products is underlined by a White Paper published today which spotlights growth in illicit trade, beyond the control of police and customs authorities, as an inevitable consequence of a sharp overnight rise in the cost of cigarettes.

Based on a round table discussion examining the impact of a new tobacco tax on smoking, and the effects on trade and social stability, the White Paper finds no evidence that a one-step, 100% overnight increase in duty on tobacco products will significantly affect consumption levels or smoking propensity.

From: New York Post

By RAYMOND W. KELLY and THOMAS FARLEY

Last week’s indictment by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of 16 members of a multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling ring underscores the serious nature of cigarette trafficking in New York City. Recent arrests linking the ring members to organized crime and terrorist organizations make it clear that New York needs stronger enforcement of tobacco laws.

While it hasn’t been established yet where the illicit proceeds in last week’s case ended up, we are concerned because similar schemes have been used in the past to help fund terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. While our federal partners continue to investigate the money trail, the NYPD has arrested the principals in this massive scheme.

From: Malaysa Sun

• All sixteen accused are Palestinian immigrants

• Charged with enterprise corruption, money laundering

• All of them face 25 years in prison

NEW YORK – Authorities in New York are claiming to have busted a multi-million cigarette smuggling ring and arrested at least 16 Palestinian immigrants having alleged links with known terror organisations.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly Thursday said that the 16 members of the criminal ring in New York City, Albany County and Schenectady County were caught with more than a million cartons of untaxed cigarettes illegally imported from Virginia.

From: Associated Press

DOVER, Del. — A man arrested in Delaware in the takedown of an alleged East Coast cigarette smuggling ring that authorities believe may have funneled money to terrorist groups is being held on $12.5 million cash bail.

Adel Abuzahrieh of Staten Island, N.Y., is being held Friday at the Sussex Correctional Institute in Georgetown, two days after troopers arrested the 47-year-old during a traffic stop on Route 1 near Milford. Police say they found 201 cases of cigarettes in the box truck he was driving and seized between $15,000 and $20,000 in cash.

From: PIX11.com

by Mary Murphy, Reporter

NEW YORK (PIX11) –  PIX11 News reported more than eight years ago about links between cigarette smuggling and the financing of  terrorism.

In 2004, we secured undercover surveillance tape of New York State agents monitoring a warehouse operation between Northern Virginia and New York  City.  The suspects — later convicted — used to make weekly trips from the Virginia warehouse, carrying 50,000 cartons in their rental trucks.  At the time, they could buy a carton of cigarettes in Virginia for $20, instead of the $75 it then cost in New York.  The smugglers cleared $2 million in profits  with every load.

Editor’s Note:  CRE has long warned about the use of cigarette smuggling to fund transnational terrorist organizations. New York City Police Commissioner Kelly agrees.

From: New York Daily News

Some of the arrested have links to Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind sheik, and Rashid Baz, who opened fire on a van of Yeshiva students on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing Ari Halberstam. ‘We’re concerned because similar schemes have been used in the past to help fund terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah,’ says Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

By Greg B. Smith

Authorities fear a regional cigarette smuggling ring was funneling a fortune to terrorist groups in the Middle East, the city’s top cop said Thursday.

From: Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE — A federal magistrate judge Tuesday ordered two men charged with being part of an interstate cigarette smuggling ring held without bail.

Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond denied a bail request by Wissam Khalil and continued a hearing for his brother, Bassam Khalil.

In Wissam Khalil’s case, Almond cited the fact that Wissam Khalil was on bail from an April 2012 state cigarette smuggling charge when he was indicted on the federal smuggling charges last week.

Bassam Khalil’s status hearing was continued to give him time to hire a lawyer.

From: CBS 6/WTVR.com

HENRICO, Va. (WTVR)–On the 7500 block  of Woodman Road in Henrico, most neighbors have been there for decades, and most yards are kept in pristine condition, in all but one house.

Neighbors say the house has only been occupied a few months. Sheets went up to over the screens on the back porch almost immediately and vans transporting large boxes come and go frequently.  But on Friday more than the length of the grass drew neighbor’s attention to the house.