Posted on 03/12/2005 8:23:15 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
SACRAMENTO — An emerging new tale of age-old certainties — taxes and death — begins in California with the flip of a cigarette butt and ends in Iraq with a bullet hitting a U.S. soldier.
Democratic legislators from the Bay Area and Los Angeles, focused on quality of life in the state, are pushing three bills that would hike cigarette costs for litter cleanup or easing deficit pressures.
But federal terrorism investigators told The Argus on Thursday that such seemingly innocent legislation, further hiking high cigarette costs in California, would fuel their already tough battle against terrorist groups' lucrative smuggling operations in the United States.
The disclosure by federal law enforcement officials comes as they are beginning to crack down on illegal cigarette smugglers, who are providing a growing and crucial part of funding to terroristgroups such as al-Qaida and Hezbollah.
Two new reports by a separate federal watchdog agency, the U.S. General Accounting Office, detail the multibillion-dollar problem. Each is about 50 pages long. One was sent to Congress and the other to U.S. law enforcement agencies.
A smuggler transporting cigarettes from a low-tax state to a high-tax state, and selling them at a discount, can make about $2 million on a single truckload of cigarettes, according to the reports.
When informed of the new concern about a decades-old problem of black market cigarette sales, conservatives and anti-tax groups cheered Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's stance against tax hikes in general and federal officials' efforts, while attacking the California legislation.
Conservative columnist and radio talk-show host, Geoff Metcalf, a nonsmoker, said the illegal proceeds "are going directly to funding bad guys killing Americans."
"The money is huge and, if caught, the punishment is way less than dealing drugs," he said.
"This is not a defense of tobacco but rather an indictment of the inability of politicians to recognize the consequences of jacking up the cost of cigarettes with 'politically correct' taxes," Metcalf said.
The three lawmakers who authored the bills — Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Woodland Hills, and Sens. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, and Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata — were unavailable for immediate comment.
Aides and legislative analysts said the bills are aimed at worthy causes, obviously not at supporting terrorism.
Federal agencies trying to halt cigarette smuggling view it differently.
"The illicit sale of cigarettes and other commodities by terrorist groups and their supporters has become a crucial part of their funding activities," said William Billingslea, a senior intelligence analyst for the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington.
"Raising the tax on cigarettes widens the difference between the wholesale and retail price and inadvertently creates opportunity for traffickers, who evade the tax and gain the profits," he said. "Cigarette traffickers can make as much as $60 per carton."
"Illicit cigarette trafficking now rivals drug trafficking as the method of choice to fill the bank accounts of terrorists," Billingslea said. "Each state that raises its cigarette taxes is a new prospect for illicit profits gained by trafficking in cigarettes."
Only one of the bills among the three would directly impose a tax hike on cigarettes. It's being sponsored by Torlakson, who has supported tax hikes in the past for specific needs, saying he is committed to "taking bold action to protect the lives and well-being of real people."
Proceeds from his measure would be used to fund health programs for poor children.
The Pavley and Chesbro measures are aimed at kicking smokers' cigarette butts off the California landscape. They would impose fees on cigarette makers and distributors to raise funds for litter cleanup — a cost that likely would be tacked onto the cost of the product.
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers from the Bay Area and Los Angeles are co-sponsoring each of the bills.
A bill by Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, approaches the problem differently, boosting smokers' fines for cigarette-butt littering. She's also sponsoring a bill aimed at bolstering trespassers' penalties at seaports.
"In a changing world and amid increased awareness of terrorist threats, all safety violations must be taken seriously," she said. "It only makes sense that a security violation at our seaports must be prosecuted the same as a security violation at our airports."
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, according to federal officials.
"The deeper I dig into this issue the angrier I get," Metcalf said. "When I share the information with other veterans and active duty military, the most common reactions are unprintable."
Not a problem, FRiend, not a problem.
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.