Editor’s Note: The complete GAO Report GAO-18-21, TOBACCO TRADE Duty-Free Cigarettes Sold in Unlimited Quantities on the U.S.-Mexico Border Pose Customs Challenges, to Sen. Wyden, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, is here.
From: AZFamily.com
NOGALES, MEXICO (3TV/CBS 5) – Mexican drug gangs are using cigarette sales to launder profits from drug and human smuggling, according to a report released Monday by the Government Accountability Office.
“ICE officials say that the same transnational criminal organizations that smuggle narcotics and humans into the United States generate additional revenue streams by legitimately purchasing low-cost duty-free cigarettes and other items in the United States and smuggling them into Mexico, and sometimes back into the United States, for black market resale,” reads the report, which is titled, “Tobacco Trade, Duty-Free Cigarettes Sold in Unlimited Quantities on the U.S.-Mexico Border Pose Customs Challenges.”
