http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/crime.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/smugglers-prosper-in-spain-s-perfect-storm-for-tobacco-firms.html http://tobacco.org/news/333621.html Spanish smokers, squeezed by higher taxes and a deepening recession, are increasingly relying on smugglers to feed their habit. Illegal imports now account for 7 percent to 8 percent of Spanish cigarette sales, compared with almost nothing a year ago, according to the country’s tobacconists association. In southern provinces such as Cadiz, Seville and Malaga, the proportion is 20 percent. “Smuggling and fake tobacco, which had been eradicated since 1993, came back strongly last year,” said Jaime Gil- Robles, corporate affairs director at Altadis, the Spanish unit of Imperial Tobacco Group Plc. (IMT) Smuggling, encouraged by a December 2010 increase in tobacco taxes and a ban on smoking in public places, has eroded both government coffers and company revenues. Spain, which has the European Union’s highest jobless rate, collected 14 percent less tobacco taxes in 2011 than a forecast of 9.05 billion euros ($12 billion), excluding value-added tax, according to Altadis. Bloomberg News mbaigorri@bloomberg.net (Manuel Baigorri) Spain Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0208/1224311460485.html http://tobacco.org/news/333620.html THE STATE imposed fines of €250,000 arising from illegal tobacco sales and smuggling last year, according to Revenue figures. The annual loss to the exchequer from black market cigarettes is about 1,000 times the amount imposed in fines. In 2011 a total of 102 convictions for cigarette smuggling led to €136,300 in fines and 31 custodial sentences, 21 of which were suspended. The longest of the 10 sentences which were served was 12 months. A total of 57 convictions relating to the illegal sale of cigarettes resulted in €115,850 in fines and 14 custodial sentences, seven of which were served, the longest of which was three years, with one year suspended. Benny Gilsenan of Retailers Against Smuggling, a retailers’ organisation which has 3,000 members across Ireland, said the level of convictions relating to illegal tobacco was “not nearly adequate enough” given that the Revenue Commissioners estimate that the cost to the exchequer in lost revenue through counterfeit cigarette sales stood at €250 million in 2010. “Considering the level of illegal cigarettes that are being sold throughout the country that is a very small proportion of those who are being caught and fined,” Mr Gilsenan said. Irish Times newsdesk@irishtimes.com ( PAMELA DUNCAN ) Ireland Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.gazettes.com/lifestyle/health/associaton-grades-tobacco-control-in-california-long-beach/article_52c59d7c-5126-11e1-9e06-001871e3ce6c.html http://tobacco.org/news/333616.html The American Lung Association releases an annual report grading the levels of tobacco control nationwide as well as the grades for cities and counties in California. The reports, State of Tobacco Control 2012 and State of Tobacco Control 2012 - California Local Grades, were released last month. The grades are based on local tobacco control policies, including smoke-free outdoor environments, smoke-free housing and the reduction in sales of tobacco products. Long Beach received a C grade overall. The city was given an A grade for its reduction in the sale of tobacco products, but received a D grade for smoke-free outdoor air and an F grade for smoke-free housing. Gazette Newspapers Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/local/scottsville-legislator-goes-to-bat-for-burley/article_510ea84e-527e-11e1-9b48-0019bb2963f4.html http://tobacco.org/news/333612.html A southcentral Kentucky lawmaker hopes that Kentucky burley is given its due when future trade agreements are negotiated between the United States and foreign countries. "There is some discussion of excluding tobacco from the agreements," said state Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville. On Tuesday, Stone filed a nonbinding House resolution that says Kentucky farmers need to have the same access to trade as other agriculture commodities. The measure is expected to be voted on soon. Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, filed the same resolution in the state Senate, signaling bipartisan support for the issue. Stone said there have been rumors that President Barack Obama's administration wants to take tobacco out of the equation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a regional trade agreement between the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Those negotiations are expected to finish this summer. "It's not so much a price issue, because world markets determine that, but one of access," Stone said. "If you take tobacco out of those agreements, it will dearly hurt Kentucky and Kentucky's farmers," Bowling Green Daily News rminor@bgdailynews.com (ROBYN L. MINOR The Daily News) Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://theadvocate.com/news/business/2009549-123/no-cigar-embargo-on-cuba.html http://tobacco.org/news/333608.html The world is much changed since the early days of 1962, but one thing has remained constant: The U.S. economic embargo on communist-run Cuba, a near-total trade ban that turned 50 on Tuesday. . . . In the White House, the first sign of the looming embargo came when President John F. Kennedy told his press secretary to go buy him as many H. Upmann Cuban cigars as he could find. The aide came back with 1,200 stogies. Kennedy announced the embargo on Feb. 3, 1962, citing “the subversive offensive of Sino-Soviet communism with which the government of Cuba is publicly aligned.” Associated Press Cuba USA Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/feb/09/tdmet03-cigarette-smuggling-suspect-pleads-guilty-ar-1674983/ http://tobacco.org/news/333574.html A member of a ring that allegedly traded millions of dollars in cash, cocaine, heroin, automobiles and other goods for untaxed cigarettes pleaded guilty in federal court in Richmond on Wednesday. Court documents allege that operation made at least $8.2 million from 2009 until last October. Many of the activities and some of the arrests took place in the Richmond area and elsewhere in Virginia. In addition to cash, the participants allegedly used prescription erectile dysfunction pills, thousands of grams of crack cocaine, heroin, gold jewelry and BMW and Lexus SUVs to buy more than 100,000 cartons of cigarettes that were sent to New York for resale. Salah Morshed, a U.S. citizen born in Yemen and arrested in New York, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes and to one count of conspiracy to launder money. He will face up to 25 years in prison when sentenced on May 11 Richmond Times-Dispatch fgreen@timesdispatch.com (Frank Green) Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/feb/08/man-pleads-guilty-role-untaxed-cigarette-ring-ar-1674059/ http://tobacco.org/news/333573.html A member of a ring that allegedly traded millions of dollars in cash, cocaine, heroin, automobiles and other goods for untaxed cigarettes pleaded guilty in federal court in Richmond today. Court documents allege that operation made at least $8.2 million from 2009 until last October. Many of the activities and some of the arrests took place in the Richmond area and elsewhere in Virginia. In addition to cash, the participants allegedly used prescription erectile dysfunction drugs, thousands of grams of crack cocaine, heroin, gold jewelry, BMW and Lexus SUVs to buy more than 100,000 cartons of cigarettes that were sent to New York for sale. Salah Morshed, a U.S. citizen born in Yemen, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes and to one count of conspiracy to launder money. Richmond Times-Dispatch Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120208/wpg_smokes_seized_120208/20120208?hub=WinnipegHome http://tobacco.org/news/333564.html Provincial officials said three people face a range of charges after loaded guns, 1.45 million contraband cigarettes and more than $400,000 in cash were seized from private residences. The province said enforcement agencies carried out search warrants in the RM of Rosser on Feb. 2 at two residences. A 67-year-old man and his 66-year-old brother, along with a 48-year-old woman, face a number of charges, including provincial charges for possession of non-Manitoba marked tobacco. Canadian Television Canada Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://truthdive.com/2012/02/09/JFK-ordered-1-200-Cuban-cigars-hours-before-authorising-them-as-illegal.html http://tobacco.org/news/333560.html John F Kennedy ordered an aide to buy him as many Cuban cigars as possible just hours before he authorised the U.S. trade embargo, which subsequently made them illegal, it has been revealed. The 34th President of the United States asked his head of press and fellow cigar smoker Pierre Salinger to obtain "1,000 Petit Upmanns" on February 6, 1962, so he could have them in his hands before they were deemed contraband. Merely seconds after he was told the next morning that 1,200 of Cuba's finest export had been bought for him, he signed the decree to ban all of the communist state's products from the U.S. The re-surfacing of the story, initially recounted by Salinger to Cigar Aficionado magazine in 1992, comes with the passing of the 50th anniversary of the embargo on Tuesday. According to him, JFK called him into his office and said he needed "some help" to find "a lot of cigars". He wanted "1,000 Petit Upmanns" and needed them by "tomorrow morning". ANI Cuba USA Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/health/mp_warns_about_dangers_of_illegal_tobacco_1_3486590 http://tobacco.org/news/333551.html SMOKERS need a ‘wake-up call’ on the increased health risks caused by illegal tobacco, said Hastings MP Amber Rudd. She said that people buying under-the-counter cigarettes for a few pounds might not be so inclined to do so if they knew more about the level of harmful chemicals that these cheap packets contained. Ms Rudd added: “I think they think what they are doing is buying the same cigarettes that they would get in Spain, or Belgium. “What people need is a wake-up call, as smokers deserve to get the least damaging cigarettes.” Following a BBC investigation in October last year into the illegal tobacco trade in Hastings and St Leonards, some of the counterfeit cigarettes were sent for testing, with one brand found to contain eight times as much lead as legal cigarettes. Hastings Observer UK Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/video/85897072 http://tobacco.org/news/333536.html Jaime Gil-Robles, corporate affairs director at Altadis SA, the Spanish unit of Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, talks about tobacco smuggling and consumption in Spain. He spoke with Bloomberg's Manuel Baigorri in Madrid on Jan. 26. (Source: Bloomberg) Bloomberg News Spain Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/wrsnews/cigarette-smuggling-from-africa-rising.shtml?28992 http://tobacco.org/news/333533.html Geneva customs officials are finding more and more smugglers bringing cigarettes from Africa. Geneva regional customs director Jerome Coquoz said yesterday a number of passengers from Senegal have been found carrying between 100 and 300 cartons of cigarettes in luggage. worldradio.ch 88.4 FM IN GENEVA Switzerland Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/city_targets_another_roll-your.html http://tobacco.org/news/333515.html STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's round two of Mayor Michael Bloomberg versus the city's roll-your-own cigarette stores, with the city announcing yesterday that they've filed a lawsuit seeking to close yet another store on Staten Island. The city Law Department filed suit yesterday against Victory Smoke Shop at 1765 Victory Blvd. in Castleton Corners, as well as another store in Manhattan, alleging that the shop evades cigarette taxes by providing its customers with loose tobacco, paper tubes, and access to a machine where they can make their own cigarettes. Customers at Victory Smoke Shop can buy what amounts to a carton of cigarettes, or 10 packs, for roughly $30. A store-bought pack would otherwise cost $10 to $14 for a pack of 20 cigarettes, after customers pay the $1.50 city tax and $4.35 state tax. The federal lawsuit comes just weeks after a similar store, Island Smokes in Great Kills, signed a consent degree to shut its business down in the face of a similar lawsuit. Staten Island Live Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/crime/huge_cigarette_haul_by_masked_burglars_in_armed_raids_at_northampton_stores_1_3497041 http://tobacco.org/news/333511.html A GANG of masked burglars, armed with sledgehammers, stole "thousands of pounds" of cigarettes after smashing their way into two convenience stores in Northampton. Detectives believe the raids, which targeted shops on opposite sides of Northampton within an hour of each other, were carried out by the same gang. The first smash and grab happened at around 11.05pm on Monday, at the One Stop Shop, in Kent Road, Duston, when three men smashed a glass front door, broke the shutters and then looted the shop of cigarettes. The second, identical raid took place at around 11.55pm at the Co-op, in Wootton Hope Drive, Wootton Fields. Northampton Chronicle and Echo john.harrison@northantsnews.co.uk (John Harrison) UK Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT http://www.nst.com.my/latest/mmea-foil-attempt-to-smuggle-cigarettes-worth-rm117-944-1.43737 http://tobacco.org/news/333506.html PONTIAN: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled an attempt to smuggle in cigarettes from a neighbouring country after detaining two men and seizing 1,620 cartons of contraband cigarettes valued at RM117,944 during a raid off Pantai Rambah, here today. Region Two Marine Operations Force deputy commander Supt N. Kalai Chelvan said marine police on patrol in the area spotted a speedboat heading to Pantai Rambah at 3am. New Straits Times Malaysia Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT