NCJ Number
83611
Date Published
1978
Length
188 pages
Annotation
Testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Criminal Laws and Procedures documents the extent and damage of cigarette smuggling from States with low cigarette taxes to those with a high tax, and a bill that would give the Federal Government jurisdiction over interstate cigarette smuggling is considered.
Abstract
Over the past 10-12 years, the increasing disparity of cigarette tax rates of various States has made it profitable to transport large quantities of cigarettes from low-tax States to high-tax States, where they are then sold at prevailing rates, using counterfeit cigarette tax stamps in many cases. Testimony documents the involvement of organized crime in such smuggling, which has turned it into a large-scale operation beyond the resources and jurisdictional capabilities of local and State law enforcement. States are losing tax monies, and persons involved in legitimate retail cigarette sales in high-tax States are suffering severe setbacks in their sales. S. 1487 provides for the Federal sanctioning of interstate cigarette smuggling to compensate for jurisdictional restrictions on State police. Further, the sanctions provided will be more severe than those provided in State laws. Representatives testifying from various States report on the extent of the problem and generally recommend the passage of S. 1487. A copy of the bill is provided, along with a report on cigarette bootlegging prepared by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. For the latter report, see NCJ 83612.