From: Sacramento Bee
- Products were seized by state Board of Equalization investigators over 13-year period
- Items destroyed were confiscated from Bakersfield to the Oregon border, 2001 – 2014
- Sellers of cigarettes and tobacco products must be licensed
By Cathy Locke
Contraband cigarettes and tobacco products with a retail value of approximately $1.97 million were destroyed Wednesday in Yolo County.
The event, described by California State Board of Equalization member Fiona Ma as the largest one-time destruction of contraband cigarettes and tobacco products in the state’s history, was held at the Yolo County Central Landfill in Woodland. The products destroyed were confiscated through the service of three search warrants and 503 administrative seizures conducted from Bakersfield to the Oregon border between 2001 and 2014, according to a news release from Ma’s office.
