Who sells native cigarettes near me reservation in upstate New York is a world away from Manhattan, its rolling green hills and fields bursting with concord grapes and corn ringing out to Lake Erie. But the reservation is also a center of illegal cigarette trade that is draining local governments of tax revenue and fueling violent criminal enterprises, including one whose owner has been convicted of firebombing a competitor’s car, beating and robbing another and financing the murder of a third.
The tobacco black market exploded after 2002 as cigarette taxes rose nationwide, driving smuggling to record levels. The traffic reaches its peak in New York, where one in three cigarettes sold is channeled untaxed through reservations, according to industry data. A handful of cigarette wholesalers supply the reservations, buying directly from manufacturers and receiving bonuses in return for providing detailed sales information. Last year, the wholesalers supplied more than 90 percent of all cigarette sales on Indian land, ICIJ research shows. The largest wholesaler, Philip Morris Direct, shipped billions of cigarettes to phony smoke shops, which often were nothing more than signs nailed to light posts or trees.
“Navigating Legalities: Understanding the Sale and Distribution of Native Cigarettes
The Cuomo administration, which fought a losing legal battle to tax name-brand cigarettes on Indian reservations, now has decided to focus enforcement efforts on the middlemen. The administration’s move is likely to trigger a stream of lawsuits, as Indian tribes argue that the state’s attempt to collect the taxes on the reservations violates their sovereignty.
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