From: Mass Appeal
“Typically the crime gets treated as a tax offense, and most people pay a fine.” -NYC Sheriff
by Bucky Turco
There’s a huge black market for illegal booze and tobacco in New York City reports Crain’s, and it’s depriving the state of more than a billion dollars in revenue a year! Due to high taxes and limited enforcement, there’s a a lot of bootlegging going on, and it’s estimated that “25% of booze sold in the city was likely smuggled in” and that “50% of cigarettes purchased in the five boroughs are also contraband.”
***
New York Cit Sheriff Joseph Fucito, admits that it’s hard to enforce the law with such a small force. “The truth is we have our hands full,” he said. According to Crain’s “the city’s Department of Finance, has 150 deputies and detectives, who periodically check bodegas and other vendors for smuggled cigs. But some 10,000 stores in the city sell cigarettes, and Fucito has the resources to inspect only about 500 of them each year—in addition to tracking down deadbeat dads, deed fraudsters and synthetic-pot pushers.”
