Monthly Archives: September 2015

From: ABC News

Police expect to make more arrests after disrupting a multi-million-dollar cigarette-smuggling operation in Sydney, involving corrupt waterfront officials, officers say.

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Police said the group helped smuggle large quantities of illegal cigarettes and tobacco into Australia, including a shipment of 9 million ‘Manchester’ branded cigarettes from the United Arab Emirates, which arrived at Port Botany this month.

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AFP Acting Deputy Commissioner Operations Ian McCartney said the shipments of illegal cigarettes and tobacco had been collected by a local syndicate and was bound for the black market in Sydney.

From: NY Daily News

BY Christina Carrega-woodby

After a lengthy bench trial, Basel Ramadan was found guilty on 198 counts of enterprise corruption, money laundering and other charges. He faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing.

The ringleader of a huge untaxed cigarette trafficking enterprise was convicted Tuesday of dodging at least $80 million in state taxes and pocketing millions in illegal profits.

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Ramadan, who generated more than $10 million in profits, was the leader of a 16-member criminal outfit which included his brother, Samir, 40. Samir pleaded guilty in 2014 and is serving a six-year sentence.

From: Salisbury News

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman’s office confirmed this afternoon the conviction of Basel Ramadan after a 10-week bench trial. Ramadan, 44, who lived and operated businesses in Ocean City with other family members, was found guilty on 198 counts, including Enterprise Corruption, Money Laundering and numerous tax crimes by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen A. Riveiezzo. He now faces anywhere from eight to 25 years on the Enterprise Corruption charge and up to 30 years for the other counts combined. 

From: KULR News | NBC

By Nessa Wright

BUTTE – Police across the state are searching for two suspects they say are buying thousands of dollars’ worth of cigarettes on other people’s dime. Police say two black males are traveling across the state using stolen credit cards in at least a dozen convenient stores.

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Butte police said they can think of only one reason for the unusually large amount of cigarettes purchased. “Resale, I mean that’s one of the only explanations, I mean common sense explanation you could give it would be for resale. Either transport out of state to resale in other states or resale here,” said Skuletich.

From: Tobacco Control

Hana Ross, Nicole Vellios, Katherine Clegg Smith, Jacqueline Ferguson, Joanna E Cohen