State confiscating thousands of illegal cigarettes

ALBANY — The state task force cracking down on illegal cigarette sales is kicking major butt.

In just months, the Cigarette Strike Task Force has confiscated 12,236 cartons of illegal smokes, 254,873 illegal cigars, 20,061 pounds of loose tobacco and 24,773 counterfeit cigarette tax stamps, The Post has learned.

On top of the illegal smokes, the agency also took control of $1.6 million in contraband and cash, state officials revealed.

"This quick success is a reminder to would-be traffickers that New York has zero tolerance for this illegal activity, and those who further it will be brought to justice," Gov. Cuomo said.

In March, The Post reported the state was forming the 13-agency task force to root out illegal tobacco sales that result in a loss of state tax revenue.

Cigarette smugglers target the Empire State because of its high tax on smokes. Statewide, New Yorkers burn $4.35 per pack in taxes — and those who light up in the Big Apple are slapped with an additional $1.50 tax per pack.

If the smokes confiscated by the task force had been sold on the black market, the state would have missed out on $532,266 in taxes. If all were sold in the city, the skirted tax would have been an additional $183,540.

In one sting in Brooklyn last month, officials confiscated 3,236 cartons of smuggled smokes along with 3,795 counterfeit tax stamps and $130,000 in cash.

State agents arrested a man for transporting 942 cartons of untaxed smokes that were smuggled in with stamps from other states back in February in Queens.

The profit margin on smuggled cartons is higher than that on the sale of illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and marijuana, a recent study by The Tax Foundation showed.

The majority of the illegal smokes come from states with the lowest tobacco taxes, including Missouri, where smokers are taxed at only 17 cents a pack, and Virginia, where there is a 30-cent-per-pack tax.

There are fines and penalties already in place to prevent such actions that end up robbing the state's sales-tax coffers, including a $600-per-carton fine and possible criminal charges.

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