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Smuggled, Untaxed Cigarettes Are Everywhere in New York City
Village Voice ^ | 04/07/2015 | Jon Campbell

Posted on 04/15/2015 7:49:04 AM PDT by Kid Shelleen

As six armed officers pour out of two unmarked Ford Explorers on a Long Island City street corner, you can see the confusion on the faces of gawkers and passersby. One woman looks up from her phone and does a sitcom-worthy double-take when she notices their windbreakers, embossed with the word "SHERIFF" in big gold letters, front and back. That might be because few have ever heard of the New York City Sheriff's Office. But those who have know what happens next. And, not surprisingly, when they burst into a corner store near 40th Avenue and 21st Street, the clerk seems not at all shocked, nor particularly concerned, to see them. This is not his first rodeo, as it were.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.villagevoice.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cigarettes; newyork; smuggling; taxes
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To: Kid Shelleen

If a tax is based on the honor system, people will always find ways to evade them.


21 posted on 04/15/2015 9:03:48 AM PDT by Old Yeller (Civil rights are for civilized people.)
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To: Kid Shelleen

This reminds me of the old Soviet Union. Stealing from the state was a greater offense than murder. Embezzlers faced the death penalty.


22 posted on 04/15/2015 9:20:54 AM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: kearnyirish2
In nearby NJ I’ve bought cigarettes with stamps in Cyrillic letters

In 2013, I was buying cartons of Marlboro Reds in the Republic of Georgia for $6. Smuggling them over here is easy. They're not illegal drugs. You don't have dogs at customs sniffing them out.

23 posted on 04/15/2015 9:25:01 AM PDT by Drew68
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To: Drew68

I’ve crossed into Canada where you can bring 1 carton per person with you. In NJ we have an average of 15,000 foreigners landing here every day (by my estimates) to get on the dole, so figure how many of their relatives’ bodegas/Quik-E-Marts end up with all of those cartons...


24 posted on 04/15/2015 9:29:15 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: Kid Shelleen

40+ ounce soda cups are black marketed as well.


25 posted on 04/15/2015 11:19:46 AM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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To: AlaskaErik
Reminds me of the movie "On the Waterfront" when one of the goons watching the longshoreman says:
And don't go walking off with any of that! You know how the boss feels about individual pilferage.
26 posted on 04/15/2015 12:07:00 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen (Beat your plowshares into swords. Let the weak say I am strong)
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