Virginia Lawmakers Go After Cigarette Trafficking

Virginia has become a hotbed for tobacco smugglers who are re-selling cartons of smokes in states that have a higher cigarette excise tax rate.

January 28, 2013

RICHMOND - Virginia lawmakers are stepping up to counter the growing black market trade of cigarettes within the state, writes The Associated Press.

Virginia has become an attractive option for smugglers to buy hundreds or even thousands of cartons and resell them in the Northeast, a practice that is "undercutting retailers and skirting the higher taxes" imposed in areas such as New York City, where taxes on cigarettes are nearly $6 per pack.

According to the ATF, a car can easily tote 10 cases of cigarettes (60 cartons per case) and reap a payday of about $34,000. A van carrying 50 cases can see a profit of $170,000, Virginia State Crime Commission legal affairs director G. Stewart Petoe told the news source.

"There??s no other legal product in the United States where this type of money can be made within a thousand-mile drive," said Paul Carey, chief of enforcement for the Northern Virginia Cigarette Tax Board, which works with 17 area jurisdictions to combat cigarette smuggling.

Virginia state Sen. Janet Howell, who is taking the lead on legislation that addresses cigarette trafficking, told the news source that some residents might think "so what" to the practice ?" until they realize that the problem is "bringing organized crime into Virginia and also we??ve had some cases where the profits of the illegal trafficking are going to terrorists."

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