ATF stings put 250M illegal cigarettes on streets, page 1

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Topic started on 22-1-2010 @ 11:30 AM by ModernAcademia

ATF stings put 250M illegal cigarettes on streets

news.yahoo.com

Undercover ATF agents in Virginia have funneled more than 250 million cigarettes onto the nation's streets in the past three years through black market sales targeting smugglers, an Associated Press review has found.

Authorities say the flood of government-provided smokes — a pack and a half for every man, woman and child in New York City, the smugglers' main destination — leads them to organized crime rings and can even cut off financing for terrorists. The stings by the Bureau of Alcohol, T

(visit the link for the full news article)

reply posted on 22-1-2010 @ 11:30 AM by ModernAcademia

Okay, I guess i'm kinda confused here....
What is an illegal cigarette exactly?

Cigarettes aren't illegal, so what's an illegal cigarette?
Is it simply non-taxed cigarettes?
That's it?

A tractor-trailer filled with untaxed or low-tax cigarettes can hold a potential profit of $1 million if they're trucked to New York City, where each pack faces $2.75 in state taxes plus a $1.50 levy from the city itself. A single vanload can turn a $115,000 profit.

Ohhhhh I see.... okay
Kinda makes sense now

They want in!

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply posted on 22-1-2010 @ 11:54 AM by 12.21.12

I'm scratching my head.

What about drugs illegally smuggled in to this country? Are they getting taxed?

How about the cartels operating within our gov?

So all the government cares about is getting their share, so that you can't compete with the government. Like the bumper sticker says, "Don't Steal. The government hates competition."

So whats up with ciggarettes being taxed by both federal and state governments?

Thats double taxation, automatically taken from you at the cash register.

What I figure is if they can tack on an additional percentage of the actual sale cost, it will eliminate tobacco companies from being able to compete with the Federal Government, because the additional prfoit margin over ride confiscated by the government will significantly reduce the tobacco companies ability to make their profit margin and sever them from being able to compete with the Federal Gvernment government.

reply posted on 22-1-2010 @ 12:23 PM by Signals

Another reason for ATF to be disbanded....

They ruin

All

The

Fun

& burn compounds in Waco in their spare time.

reply posted on 22-1-2010 @ 01:19 PM by mosesgunner

Where can I get some of these "illegal" cigarettes. As a smoker it really concerned me that I'm paying more then thugs for my smokes.

reply posted on 22-1-2010 @ 02:05 PM by Bobbox1980

Oh no, cigarettes sold that haven't had taxes paid on them, send 'em to the guillotine....

Studies of the health care system in the Netherlands have shown that cigarette smokers cost their health care system the least because they die the earliest, 7 years less on average.

There is no legitimate reason to tax cigarettes above and beyond normal sales taxes.

Politicians know that cigarette smokers make up a fraction of the population and that the rest of society won't object to raises in cigarette taxes. Cigarette smokers are left with no recourse as Republicans and Democrats support the cigarette tax increases and therefore voting to increase cigarette taxes does not hurt one's reelection chances.

It is plain old divide and conquer.

reply posted on 22-1-2010 @ 02:11 PM by Frogs

reply to post by ModernAcademia

Yup - its the taxes they are after.

Kind of the same reason they go after moonshine - well than and you can go blind from a batch of bad shine - but its mainly because of the taxes.

reply posted on 23-1-2010 @ 09:03 AM by Mekanic

I know a guy (and that's all the info you are getting about him) who ordered cigs online. He paid $75 for three cartons of Marlboro cigarettes, shipped to his door. No tax stamps, and they don't have the silly burnout paper. They aren't made the same as the cigarettes sold in the US, because they don't have the regulations on them. I think, and this was about two weeks ago that we talked about it, that he got them from Sweden.

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