An article in Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies states:
A method for the determination of Pb isotope ratios (IR) in cigarette tobacco by quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Q-ICP-MS) has been developed and applied to tobacco samples from genuine and counterfeit cigarettes obtained in the USA. The IR 207Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb were measured using a Q-ICP-MS instrument. Two certified reference materials, grown in the USA and Bulgaria, were also analysed for comparison with the tobacco samples, as were tobacco samples from cigarettes obtained in Pakistan and China. The precision of the results was sufficient to distinguish between the counterfeit and genuine USA cigarettes. All of the genuine cigarettes and both reference materials, grown in different regions, were statistically distinct based on the measured ratios. The counterfeit cigarettes were indistinguishable from the reference material grown in Bulgaria. The technique shows promise as a method for identifying counterfeit cigarettes, possibly determining the source region.
An article in the American Journal of Public Health states that,
A large tax increase led to what focus group participants described as a pervasive illegal cigarette market in a low-income minority community. Perceived pro-smoking community norms, a stressful social and economic environment, and the availability of illegal cigarettes worked together to reinforce smoking and undermine cessation.
The complete study is attached below.
The $5 Man
A Research Letter in CMAJ states,
Current tobacco-control strategies seek to inhibit and reduce smoking among adolescents. However, such strategies are probably undermined by the contraband tobacco market.
The complete article is attached below.
Use of contraband cigarettes among adolescent daily smokers in Canada
A study from the Fraser Institute states,
It has been estimated that contraband tobacco makes up roughly 30% of the total Canadian tobacco market. In 2009, the RCMP seized a record high of 975,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes. Key factors fueling the contraband trade include relatively high and rising tobacco excise taxes, the inability of law enforcement to impede tobacco smuggling, Aboriginal autonomy in taxation and on-reserve law enforcement, and the erroneous perception that lawful and contraband tobacco are close substitutes.
The complete study is attached below.
combatting-contraband-tobacco-trade-in-canada
A CRE Monograph which analyzes all aspects of the trade in contraband cigarettes.
AnInquiryIntoContrabandCigarettes
Budget document discusses the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’s (ATF’s) budget request and justification.
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Testimony by Kevin L. Perkins, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigative Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration, March 11, 2010.
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Newspaper investigation into how cigarette smuggling through the United States financed the murder of two British soldiers by an Irish Republican Army splinter group.
South_Florida_Cigarette_Smuggling_Funds_Terrorism
Master’s Thesis by Joseph A. Lanzante, Naval Postgraduate School, that seeks to “to expand on the literature that has been written on the possibility and impact of a relationship forming between criminal and terrorist organizations in terms of human smuggling. These entities could form a strategic alliance and leverage existing narcotics, weapons, and human smuggling corridors that exist south of the U.S./Mexico border to smuggle terrorist operatives into the U.S. thereby threatening U.S. interests and national security.”
Lanzante
Prepared testimony by Michael J. Garcia, Assistant Secretary, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security Before House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Trade, “ICE Authorization for Fiscal Year 2005 and 2006″ June 17, 2004.
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