Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Cigarette Smuggling Linked to Terrorism
Washington Post ^ | 06/08/2004 | Sari Horwitz

Posted on 06/08/2004 5:05:45 AM PDT by general_re

Smugglers with ties to terrorist groups are acquiring millions of dollars from illegal cigarette sales and funneling the cash to organizations such as al Qaeda and Hezbollah, federal law enforcement officials say, prompting a nationwide crackdown on black market tobacco.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has more than 300 open cases of illicit cigarette trafficking -- including several with terrorist links -- up from only a handful five years ago, ATF sources said.

"This is a major priority for us," said Michael Bouchard, assistant director of the ATF. "The deeper we dig into these cases, the more ties to terrorism we're discovering."

The lucrative trafficking of cigarettes, known as cigarette diversion, is a simple scheme but difficult to stop, law enforcement officials say. The traffickers purchase a large volume of cigarettes in states where the tax is low, such as Virginia and North Carolina, transport them up Interstate 95 to states such as Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and then sell them at a discount without paying the higher cigarette taxes in those states.

With huge profits -- and low penalties for arrest and conviction -- illicit cigarette trafficking now has begun to rival drug trafficking as a funding choice for terrorist groups, said William Billingslea, an ATF senior intelligence analyst who has studied the issue extensively.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: jihadinamerica; pufflist; smoking; smuggling; taxes; terroristfunding; tobacco; wodlist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180 ... 221-237 next last
To: VRWC_minion
Wrong; taxes are not a voluntary exchange.

In a democratic republic they sure are.

They are not voluntary to those who voted against them. Coercion does not become something else just because a majority commits it.

141 posted on 06/08/2004 11:46:56 AM PDT by Know your rights (The modern enlightened liberal doesn't care what you believe as long as you don't really believe it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 131 | View Replies]

To: Mears
The last I checked,bootleggers were not pillars of the community so what did these idiot politicians expect.

Your previous comment answers this.........they expect the users of those products to cough up the money without seeking an alternative.

142 posted on 06/08/2004 11:47:23 AM PDT by Gabz (RIP President Ronald W. Reagan 1911-2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: VRWC_minion

"Taxing nonresidents or better yet taxing addicts is a common way to raise revenues for the greatest number. This is simply doing what capitalism requires. Acting in ones self interest."

Capitalism requires something of value, like products or services, to be exchanged for someones efforts, in addition it requires voluntary agreements of the terms. Outside military and police protection, taxation offers no value to the persons that fund the government. Government theft of income, by any means, is no more capitalistic than Cuba.


143 posted on 06/08/2004 11:47:27 AM PDT by CSM (Liberals may see Saddam's mass graves in Iraq as half-full, but I prefer to see them as half-empty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 121 | View Replies]

To: Gabz

What is long, hard and round and sticks so far out a man's
pajamas that you can hang a hat on it?


144 posted on 06/08/2004 11:47:47 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 138 | View Replies]

To: cinFLA
taxes are not a voluntary exchange.

Provide proof of your claim.

The proof is the statutory criminal penalties for nonpayment. I'm surprised to have to explain this on a conservative site.

145 posted on 06/08/2004 11:49:15 AM PDT by Know your rights (The modern enlightened liberal doesn't care what you believe as long as you don't really believe it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 137 | View Replies]

To: Know your rights
They are not voluntary to those who voted against them. Coercion does not become something else just because a majority commits it.

Thats not my problem. If you wish to change the system, overthrow the govt.

146 posted on 06/08/2004 11:49:26 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: CSM
Outside military and police protection, taxation offers no value to the persons that fund the government.

The interstate highway system has provided great value to our country. Try it sometime.

147 posted on 06/08/2004 11:50:25 AM PDT by cinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: CSM

Democract republic is a social contract. We all agree to allow the govt' to tax us.


148 posted on 06/08/2004 11:50:37 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: VRWC_minion

What is it that a woman has two and a cow has four?


149 posted on 06/08/2004 11:51:24 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 148 | View Replies]

To: VRWC_minion

His leg.


150 posted on 06/08/2004 11:51:26 AM PDT by Gabz (RIP President Ronald W. Reagan 1911-2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: cinFLA
If smokers are harming their children, either knowingly or through ignorance, at what point is it the government's business?

I don't know how to quantify it, but it's clear to me that the burden of proof should be on those who want to intrude on parents' freedoms.

151 posted on 06/08/2004 11:51:44 AM PDT by Know your rights (The modern enlightened liberal doesn't care what you believe as long as you don't really believe it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 140 | View Replies]

To: Gabz

His head


152 posted on 06/08/2004 11:53:22 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 150 | View Replies]

To: VRWC_minion
...overthrow the government."

You ARE on the wrong website then.

Free Republic is an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the web. We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America. And we always have fun doing it. Hoo-yah

You are currently advocating none of the above.

153 posted on 06/08/2004 11:53:34 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (For an Evil Super Genius, you aren't too bright are you?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: VRWC_minion
If you wish to change the system, overthrow the govt.

Jefferson was right.

154 posted on 06/08/2004 11:53:35 AM PDT by Protagoras (government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." (Ronald Reagan, 1981 In)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: cinFLA

At what point will you advocate limiting the government's business when deciding what is "good for the chilrun?"

Dad Investigated for Taking Son Off Meds

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1149909/posts


155 posted on 06/08/2004 11:53:49 AM PDT by CSM (Liberals may see Saddam's mass graves in Iraq as half-full, but I prefer to see them as half-empty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 140 | View Replies]

To: CSM; VRWC_minion

Don't respond to it, it's just a disruptor.


156 posted on 06/08/2004 11:54:24 AM PDT by johnb838 (When I hear "Allahu Akhbar" it means somebody is about to die.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: CSM; MeekOneGOP
Thanks to MeekOneGOP, we have a new means of dealing with the gnatzies!!!


157 posted on 06/08/2004 11:54:32 AM PDT by Gabz (RIP President Ronald W. Reagan 1911-2004)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: Gabz
About 37 years ago I became a smoker and a turtle. I'm still a turtel. The following is the test.

...You Bet Your Sweet Ass I Am! (3)(YBYSAIA)

As I've remembered it, in 1965 a NYC bar developed an idea in an attempt to sell more drinks. It was a simple idea base on the fact that everyone owned a jackass, and that everyone's jackass was sweet. As a member of their "club" whenever anyone asked you the club question, you had to respond in accordance with club ritual - regardless of where you were when asked. Otherwise, the "penalty" for not responding correctly was the cost of a drink. 

The club was called the ((9)International (1)Association of ) Turtles and the question, "Are you a Turtle?" required the immediate and proper response, "You bet your sweet ass I am!" Some have said that the Turtles were, in fact, very well organized and even had (5) an Imperial Turtle.

And how did one become a member of this illustrious club? Simple. All one had to do was answer correctly, (some of) these (four ?!?) questions (2) with the required "clean minded answers":

  1. What does a woman do sitting down, that a man does standing up, that a dog does on three legs -- shake hands.
  2. What word begins with an F and ends with a UCK -- firetruck.
  3. What's hairy, hard and sticks out of a man's pajamas at night -- his head.
  4. What four letter would, ending in K, represents intercourse between a man and a women -- talk.
  5. (1) What is it that a cow has four of and a woman only two -- legs.
  6. (1) What goes in hard but comes out soft and wet -- gum.
  7. (4) What does a dog do that a man steps in -- pants. 
  8. (6) What can you find in a man's pants that is about six inches long, has a head on it, and that women love so much they often blow? -- a twenty dollar bill.
  9. (6) Name five words that are each four letters long, end in u-n-t, one of which is a word for a woman  -- bunt, hunt, runt, punt, aunt.
  10. (6) What four letter word begins with f and ends with k, and if you can't get one you can use your hands -- fork.
  11. (6) What is hard, six inches long, has two nuts, and can make a girl fat? -- Almond Joy candy bar.
  12. (6) What four-letter word ends in i-t and is found on the bottom of birdcages -- grit.
  13. (6) What is it that all men have one of; that is longer on some men than others, that the Pope doesn't use, and that a man gives to his wife after they're married -- his last name.
  14. (8) What is it on a man that gets very large when he is excited -- his pupils.
  15. (8) What is long, round, wet and full of sea men - a subarmine

Did we really do those things in our youth?!! You bet your sweet...

158 posted on 06/08/2004 11:56:17 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 150 | View Replies]

To: VRWC_minion

"We all agree to allow the govt' to tax us."

No, by your own statement, you agree to allow the government to tax someone else. Instead of advocating lowering taxes, you advocate shifting the burden from you to another group of persons, then label that capitalism.

Are you willing to carry the same load of taxes as the typical smoker?


159 posted on 06/08/2004 11:56:49 AM PDT by CSM (Liberals may see Saddam's mass graves in Iraq as half-full, but I prefer to see them as half-empty.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 148 | View Replies]

To: Know your rights
I don't know how to quantify it, but it's clear to me that the burden of proof should be on those who want to intrude on parents' freedoms.

In this case, the parents' freedoms are infringing upon the freedoms and health of the children.

160 posted on 06/08/2004 11:56:56 AM PDT by cinFLA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 151 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180 ... 221-237 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson