U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport in California found 749 cartons of illegally imported cigarettes in 10 pieces of luggage. The luggage belonged to a couple who arrived on a cruise ship from Ensenada, Mexico, the agency announced in a news release on Wednesday, May 14.
On April 17, two women arrived at the Long Beach Cruise Ship Terminal and underwent a routine CBP inspection after disembarking from their cruise ship. During the inspection, officers found 10 pieces of luggage packed with cigarettes. CBP said the two women presented purchase receipts but failed to provide the required permits to legally import a large quantity of tobacco products.
“The importation of tobacco products is highly regulated from both tax and consumer safety perspectives,” Cheryl M. Davies, CBP director of field operations in Los Angeles, said in a statement. “Travelers who intentionally disregard U.S. importation laws and regulations often pay a high price.”
When someone brings in a large quantity of cigarettes, it’s treated as if they are importing them for business, not their own personal use. Because of this, they must have a special importer permit issued by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
The cigarette packaging must also follow specific rules set by the FDA, such as warning labels about nicotine and truthful descriptions of what’s in the product. Without the permit and proper labeling, the import is considered illegal.
Breakdown of cigarette cartons found
CBP officers found:
- 326 cartons of Newport 100’s
- 58 cartons of Newport Regulars
- 112 cartons of Marlboro Red
- 43 cartons of Marlboro Silver
- 210 cartons of Marlboro Gold
Authorities estimate the value of the cigarettes to be $59,920.
Governments can lose billions annually due to untaxed, illicit cigarette sales, according to the Tax Foundation. Smuggled cigarettes may also pose greater health risks to consumers due to unregulated chemicals in counterfeit cigarettes, experts have warned.
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act into law, which prohibits the sale of tobacco products sold without sales taxes and bars the sale of tobacco online.
“Selling illegally imported cigarettes could yield high profits for underground vendors due to the low cost of cigarettes when purchased overseas and the evasion of taxes owed upon import,” said Africa R. Bell, CBP port director of Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport. “This type of scheme not only evades revenue owed to the United States but may be harmful to the American consumer. CBP officers at our nation’s largest seaport complex remain committed to enforcing our laws and to protect the American public.”
CBP said all 749 cigarette cartons were seized and will be destroyed.
