Monthly Archives: November 2013

Editor’s Note: Watch video here.

From: NBC4 Washington

By Scott MacFarlane and Rick Yarborough

It’s a crime that happens in plain sight, inside stores up and down the East Coast. The tobacco trail of smuggled cigarettes costs taxpayers millions of dollars and often starts right here in Northern Virginia.

Paul Carey is at the center of the battle. He’s chief of enforcement with the Northern Virginia Cigarette Tax Board. “It’s more profitable than heroin, drugs, methamphetamines. And the penalties are so low,” said Carey.

Editor’s Note:  For more information about the Virginia State Crime Commission’s work in investigating and countering tobacco trafficking, please see the Counterfeit Cigarette IPD here.

From: The News & Advance

ABC could lead effort against threat linked to organized crime, terror

BY FRANK GREEN | Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Virginia State Crime Commission is drafting legislation aimed at illegal cigarette trafficking following a closed briefing from law enforcement agencies this month.

From: Derby Telegraph 

Illicit cigarettes seized in a police raid. Counterfeit tobacco products can contain up to 30 times the level of harmful toxins.

By Derby Telegraph

AN unusual odour or strange taste will alert you to the fact that something is wrong.

A hacking cough can also make you realise that those cheap cigarettes were not such a great bargain.

There is the possibility that they had higher levels of carcinogenic chemicals than legitimate tobacco products.

And traces of animal droppings, dead insects, asbestos and plastics have also been found in cigarettes on sale in the UK.

From: Chicago Tribune

Sheriff’s officer took money to protect illegal cigarette operation

By Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune reporter

Cigarette smuggler Mustafa Mohd Shaikh was caught in June 2011 on an undercover recording describing how having the protection of a longtime sheriff’s investigator meant his enterprise could operate with impunity.

“Anything happens to you in Chicago, this guy will get you out,” Shaikh was quoted in court records as telling an informant. “This guy is willing to protect. Nobody will touch you or come by you.”

Publisher’s Note:  Please note that CRE has an Interactive Public Docket  (OIRA Watch) dedicated to the regulatory review office in OMB.