Terror Financing And The Black Market Cigarette Trade
In Pennsylvania last month, state representatives Russ Diamond and Rick Saccone challenged a $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase (which was later passed into law), arguing that the price hike would regressively target poorer smokers and encourage black market sales. More critically, the two lawmakers pointed out that increased sales of smuggled tobacco would put more money in the pockets of violent extremists who wish to do Americans harm.
That argument raised eyebrows in the press, but the point made by Diamond and Saccone is a critically important one. A major 2015 report from the State Department identified tobacco smuggling as a major threat to national security, noting that selling illegal cigarettes is a relatively “low-risk, high reward” activity for criminal networks and terror groups, who often join forces to exploit the illicit trade.
Related Posts
Excise seizes illicit liquor, fake notes worth over Rs 1L
Thiruvananthapuram: Based on a tip-off, a team of excise officers at Vamanapuram...
Counterfeit versions of $10,000 Super Bowl rings intercepted by US border control officers
Customs officers in the US have seized a shipment of more than 100 counterfeit...
Tobacco Smuggling Rises Explosively as Gov’t Is Set to Raise Cigarette Price
As the government’s decision to raise the cigarette prices by 80 percent from...
Gold and electronic goods worth Rs 60.16 lakh seized at Chennai airport
CHENNAI: Air customs sleuths seized gold weighing 606 gram from a passenger, who...