From: US Department of Defense | Office of Inspector General
Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JADALLAH SAED, age 30; ANWAR ABDELMAJID-AHMAD, a/k/a Tony, age 29, both of Gretna; ATALLA ATALLA, a/k/a Tommy, age 38, of Wilmington, North Carolina; JUSTIN BROWN, age 29; JOSHUA CARTHON, age 32, and GARRETT PARTMAN , age 31, all of New Orleans, were arrested yesterday in connection with the unsealing of an Indictment charging them with conspiring to traffic in contraband cigarettes and evading the federal excise tax imposed on tobacco; trafficking in contraband cigarettes, and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises, in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1952(a)(3), respectively.
According to previously filed court documents, defendants would illegally receive, possess, and purchase contraband cigarettes and cigars in order to evade applicable taxes and receive higher profits for the retail sale of the tobacco products. New Orleans Police Officers JUSTIN BROWN and JOSHUA CARTHON and Orleans Parish Sheriff’s deputy GARRETT PARTMAN, were utilized to protect and transport the shipment of contraband cigarettes across state lines. The defendants would then distribute and sell the contraband cigarettes in North Carolina and other states where the cigarette taxes are higher than Louisiana, resulting in a substantial total tax loss to both federal and state governments.
