Monthly Archives: June 2014

Editor’s Note: For more about this story, please see the previous postings, Multi-million dollar cigarette smuggling ring with terror links busted, Ramadan Brothers Extradited One Week After Local Arrests; 300-Page Indictment Details Lengthy Conspiracy, Ramadans have OC business licenses, Samir Ramadan, alleged cigarette smuggling ringleader, held on $15 million bail, A third Ramadan brother cites fallout from pair’s cigarette smuggling case, Ramadans To Appear In Court, Business Owners: Cigarette Smuggling Hurts Small Shops, Ramadan Brothers Remain In Custody After Hearing, Ramadan Indicted On Murder-For-Hire Charges; Authorities Say He Orchestrated Plot From Prison, and Ramadan Attorneys Dispute Terrorism Link, To Fight Murder-For-Hire Charges.

From: UTV

A 56-year-old company director has been arrested in connection with a suspected tobacco smuggling fraud worth an estimated £11m.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers carried out searches at a private address in the Widnes area of Cheshire, in England, on Tuesday.

They seized computers, phones and business records relating to the fraud.

Addresses in the south Armagh area were also searched by HMRC officers, who were accompanied by the PSNI.

The man was interviewed by HMRC and has been released on bail. Investigations are continuing.

From: amNewYork

By ALISON FOX

A Brooklyn man was charged with allegedly selling at least 30,000 in counterfeit cigarettes, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance said Wednesday.

Farouq A. Al-Mathil, 40, allegedly stored and trafficked cigarettes either Virginia-stamped or branded with counterfeit New York state and city cigarette tax stamps. He was taken into custody Monday near a Red Hook storage facility, authorities said.

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From: Washington Post/Wonkblok

By Keith Humphreys

A National Academy of Sciences committee meets this week to study a large, growing and little-understood black market in drugs.  But rather than cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, the committee members will be discussing tobacco cigarettes.

The global black market in tobacco is estimated to supply 11.6% of the world’s consumption, a startling 650 billion cigarettes a year. And there are two components to this market that have drawn the particular scrutiny of law enforcement: fake cigarettes and tax avoidance.

From: Pakistan Today

UZAIR YOUSAF

Australia was the first country in the world to introduce plain packaging legislation, which standardized the packaging of tobacco products by requiring that brand names are only present in a standard font and excluding any other graphic or text elements by which manufacturers can express their brand identity.

Since the implementation on December 01, 2012, it is interesting to analyze the experience of plain packaging in Australia and its effects. There are also discussions in other countries about introducing similar legislation of standardized packaging of tobacco products.