FRANK GREEN, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Indictment says duo bought cigarettes in S.C. to sell in other states
In another cigarette trafficking twist, a man arrested in Emporia was allegedly using stolen credit card information to create gift cards for purchasing cartons of cigarettes.
Boubakar Diallo, named in a three-count indictment last month, is set to be arraigned in federal court this afternoon on charges of possession of contraband cigarettes as well as “access device fraud” and a related conspiracy charge.
The indictment alleges that Diallo and Andrew Wah traveled from Pennsylvania to South Carolina to buy cigarettes to sell in Pennsylvania and New York. Their ages and addresses were not available.
Traffickers buy cigarettes in Virginia and other low-tax states for illegal sale in high-tax states such as New York.
The two men were taken into custody Feb. 14 by the Virginia State Police after the 2002 Cadillac Deville that Diallo was driving was stopped for having overly tinted windows.
According to an affidavit from a U.S. Secret Service agent, a search of the car turned up a computer, a device that can read and write data from the magnetic strip on a credit or debit card, 98 prepaid gift/debit cards and 233 cartons of cigarettes.
Among other things, the indictment alleges that Diallo and Wah did not pay taxes on the cigarettes in Virginia, Pennsylvania or New York, and that Diallo bought some of the cigarettes using fraudulently obtained credit card numbers.
Diallo allegedly told Secret Service agents he bought several gift cards with cash at different stores in South Carolina to give to family and friends, and that he owned all the cards found in the car. He also said he owned the card device and that he liked to create his own cards.
The passenger, according to the affidavit, reported he went on a trip to South Carolina to buy cigarettes, and that while at a hotel in South Carolina, he saw Diallo with the computer, card reader and a bag of gift cards.
“He further stated that Diallo told him he has a guy in Jacksonville, Florida, who sends him credit card numbers which Diallo then transfers onto cards using his computer and scanner,” says the affidavit.
The passenger then said Diallo used the new cards to buy cigarettes.
The Virginia State Crime Commission is studying the problem and may endorse legislation to help curb trafficking.
