Monthly Archives: July 2012

From: West Island Gazette

41-year-old lead SQ on 25-kilometre long police chase

Cheryl Cornacchia

A 41-year-old man arrested by Sûreté du Québec officers July 28, will face multiple charges related to the 800,000 contraband cigarettes found in a vehicle the man had been driving before he crashed on Highway 540.

The man was apprehended after SQ officers from the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Est detachment were tipped off by Ontario Provincial Police July 28, at around 4:15 a.m., said Constable Ingrid Asselin, a spokesperson for the SQ.

From: In Loughborough

A man caught selling counterfeit tobacco following a Trading Standards’ operation has been sentenced.

Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards officers seized more than 60 packets of cigarettes and rolling tobacco from Barham Rahim at the Ezee Shop, High Street, Loughborough.

The 22-year-old, from Balaclava Road, Derby admitted to six offences relating to the sale of counterfeit tobacco products.

Leicester Magistrates’ Court ordered him to carry out 50 hours of unpaid work in the community. Fines and costs were not awarded due to Rahim’s lack of funds and him now being unemployed.

From: United Press International (UPI)

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 31 (UPI) — The  violence that led to the deaths of 48 people in Tajikistan was triggered by the  arrest of rebels on cigarette smuggling charges, the government says.

The Tajikistan Interior Ministry Sunday gave its first official account of  what led up to the slaying of regional security chief Gen. Abdullo Nazarov in  the country’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region and the resulting  crackdown on Islamist rebels there that resulted in a wave of violence.

The ministry said 17 members of the security forces, 30 militants and one  civilian were killed in clashes in and around the Gorno-Badakhshan capital of  Khorog last week.

From: Lawrenceville Patch (Lawrence Township, N.J.)

Investigation

An investigation by Lawrence Township police and the New Jersey Division of Taxation resulted in the arrest of Vishal Patel, 34, of Edison, on charges alleging he sold counterfeit cigarettes from his shop, Fox’s Pizza, on Lawrenceville-Pennington Road, according to township police Detective Sgt. Joseph Amodio.

The investigation began in June when a township resident sent an email to Police Chief Daniel Posluszny complaining that Newport cigarettes she had allegedly purchased at Fox’s Pizza “tasted funny,” Amodio said.

From: Hot Air

Earlier this year we took a brief look at Illinois Governor Patt Quinn’s inspired and sure-fire plan to ease his state’s fiscal woes on the backs of smokers by raising the taxes on cigarettes. Estimates as to how much money this would bring in ranged from modest sums in the mere millions to roughly the national debt. It couldn’t miss.

With some time having passed to let the cash cow fatten, we should check back in and see what the fine citizens of the Land of Lincoln are doing with their new found largesse. I do hope they’re not all getting fat and lazy now that all of the state’s fiscal problems have been solved. Ahhh… happy days.

Editor’s Note:  Below is the government May 25th Press Release regarding the story reported here.  It is being reprinted here to call attention to the recent Comment posted below the story by a reader.  The Counterfeit Cigarette Enforcement Forum appreciates the contributions from our readers.

From:  HM Revenue & Customs

Nine people have been arrested today by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers investigating a Heathrow freight warehouse which is believed to be used for cigarette and drug smuggling.

From: Sun Sentinel

By Paula McMahon

In hindsight, the offer seems too good to be true – more than 4 million cigarettes for sale at the knockdown price of less than $500,000 and without having to pay those pesky cigarette taxes.

(AP) PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Chinese national is facing charges that he smuggled more than $1 million worth of counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes into the United States, federal authorities in Rhode Island said Friday.

Lin Xiao Wei is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in U.S. District Court in Providence. Federal prosecutors say Wei has been in federal custody since June 4, when he was arrested in Miami. He is charged with selling and dispensing a counterfeit tobacco product and fraudulently importing a counterfeit tobacco product.

From: North Country Gazette

NASSAU COUNTY—A year-long  multi-agency investigation into the illegal trafficking of untaxed cigarettes concluded  with the arrest of five defendants and the seizure of more than 100 cases of cigarettes and more than $958,000 in cash.

Prosecutors said that beginning in July 2011, a confidential informant began working with the DA’s Office, the New York Police Department, and the Queens DA’s Office, on a joint investigation into the illegal sale of untaxed cigarettes.