Monthly Archives: August 2015

From: Haaretz

2.8 million cigarettes have been confiscated this year, but smuggling techniques are difficult to detect and mean ‘much bigger’ quantities of tobacco pass freely through customs. 

The amount of tobacco being smuggled from Jordan into Palestine is “much bigger” than the amount being stopped by PA customs, according to a Palestinian official.

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“Big quantities of smuggled cigarettes are being seized every day, but larger quantities are being smuggled in ways beyond our control,” he added.

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From: New York University | Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development

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Silver and her colleagues studied the sales of illegal cigarette packs at licensed New York City retailers in the spring and fall of 2014, after the minimum price law was established. Investigators purchased 830 packs of cigarettes from chain and independent cigarette retailers in 92 retail-dense neighborhoods throughout all five boroughs. To determine the legality of the tax stamps, the New York City Sheriff’s office used a laser detection device to inspect the packs and find counterfeit and out-of-state stamps.

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From: IOL News

By Solly Maphumulo

Johannesburg – A group of high-ranking police officials have been linked to the super-spy gadget which was illegally brought into the country to be used to intercept cellphone conversations of cigarette smugglers by a rival gang seeking a monopoly over the illicit multi-billion trade.

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A source close to the probe said the group wanted the permission of the police to destroy other cigarette smugglers so “only they would make money”.

The gang wanted to use the device to intercept conversations of the other cigarette smuggling syndicates.

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From: The Irish Times

Supply of laundered fuel and counterfeit cigarettes as plentiful as ever, say sources

Conor Lally

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Political crisis

However,the letter took on an unintended life of its own after it was thrust into the centre of the North’s political crisis, when the chief constable’s comments appeared to contradict it. It’s believed most Garda officers would subscribe to Cusack’s view; that the IRA structure, or at least the contacts and relationships forged during the Troubles, continue to exist. And they believe small numbers of men who previously funded the IRA’s war – and at times skimmed off the top for themselves — by engaging in bank robberies, fuel laundering, cigarette smuggling, counterfeiting and a range of other crimes were now continuing in that regard for personal gain.

Editor’s Note: The study “Over-the-counter sales of out-of-state and counterfeit tax stamp cigarettes in New York City,” by Diana Silver, Margaret M Giorgio, et al is available here.

From: DNAInfo

By Danielle Tcholakian

GREENWICH VILLAGE — Untaxed cigarettes are sold pervasively throughout New York City’s neighborhoods, according to a new study from New York University.

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“We were not expecting to find the number of counterfeit packs that we found,” Silver said.

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