State Confiscated a Truck with Seneca Cigarettes

The state has seized a tobacco retailer’s truck from Seneca which contained thousands of cartons of cigarettes, this move many see as a test conducted by the government as Albany seems to begin collecting taxes on Indian cigarette sales in the months ahead.

This truck was confiscated on Monday by at least one state tax and finance agent as it went between the tribe’s Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations.

“The state seized thousands of cartons of cigarettes that didn’t have a New York State tax stamp as requested by the law,” Brad Maione, a tax department spokesman, stated.

He also added that all tobacco products were illegally held by an individual situated outside the reservation property. He refused to answer any questions about the given case.

The truck belonged to Aaron J. Pierce, a Seneca businessman who was among those demanding in court the lawfulness of a new federal law that is related to mail-order tobacco product trade.

Pierce refused to comment the situation and referred calls to his lawyer Lisa Coppola. Recently she released a statement from Pierce’s company, AJ’s Wholesale, naming the confiscation without any warrant “illegal.”
The confiscation was made just one day before Seneca Nation business entities asked a federal judge in Buffalo to postpone the federal government’s ban on mailing tobacco products until their request will be heard by a higher court.

The dueling demands are part of the negative consequences from Arcara’s order last month supporting the main problem of a new federal law as Seneca business owners state will worsen their mail-order cigarette operations.

“At the given moment they are shutting down,” William Parry, the owner of Wolf’s Run in Irving stated after the two-hour hearing. “There are many people who remain without work”.

Outside the hearing room, Seneca business entities are facing with state government that is keen to undertake severe measures on untaxed cigarettes.

AJ’s Wholesale cited a bid in Central New York by local government officials to confiscate Indian cigarettes, later on this move was turned down by the courts.

According to AJ’s the agents of state tax “abandoned” the truck driver “and boxes of melting candy” on the Route 353A outside the Town of Dayton. It declared that the confiscation was unconstitutional.

“This shocking confiscation is an evident retribution for my company’s litigation in federal court,” Pierce stated.

Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder Sr. stated that stopping and confiscating of the truck was something “unparalleled” for goods traveling between the Seneca reservations. He also added that tobacco products were legally moving between Seneca-licensed business entities.

This confiscation raised concern among many officials from Seneca, who are worried that tobacco products with a tribal tax stamp will be seized by state officials.

“Stopping vehicles that go from one territory to another is something unprecedented. We are all a unique entity: the Seneca Nation,” declared Richard Nephew, chairman of the Seneca Tribal Council.

Police forfeits 12 million cigarettes produced in China

During a news-conference, Michael Campbell, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said that ATF agents collaborated with local Police Department officers to raid a warehouse in Springfield and confiscate almost 12 million cigarettes, in most part Marlboros, produced and shipped from China.

The seizure became the largest ever raid in the history of Massachusetts, said the spokesman.

Federal agents found storage, containing 60,000 packs of counterfeit Marlboros last week, after they had detained Ping Teng Mai, a 40-year-old Springfield jobless, who had previously reached an agreement with an undercover ATF agent to change his bogus cigarettes for a smaller number of untaxed cigarettes, according to a report passed to Springfield higher court.

Before this deal, ATF agent had agreed with Mai to sell him untaxed smokes worth of $2 million during four months of investigation.

Since excise taxes on cigarettes have been hiked in many places, sales of untaxed cigarettes raised to become a booming business for local criminals. Whereas, New York City put $1.50 in addition to the state’s $2.75 tax on cigarettes, Virginia’s Fairfax County demands for only 80 cents for both state and local cigarette tax. This makes a huge difference and a cornerstone for black market.

In addition to the latter opportunity, there is another chance for criminals to boodle- the counterfeit Chinese cigarettes that have been flooding the underground cigarette market, said the spokesman for the ATF.

Mr. Campbell stated that fake cigarettes have become a major headache for enforcement agencies. He said smokers simply do not understand that the composition of American-made cigarettes dramatically differs from that of Chinese bogus, since Chinese manufacturers can put even more hazardous additives in those smokes, making them even more toxic they can be.

The smoked found in Springfield storages, appertaining to Mai were made in China as Marlboro Reds and Lights. The representative of Altria lab said they completed tests and proved that those cigarettes have been counterfeit.

The cigarettes were contained in several packages with “Made in China” sign on them.

The ATF agent said that he also negotiated with Mai to supply him with 60,000 packs every four months. He asked Mai if he could ship those cigarettes to Puerto Rico, and Mai answered that there would be absolutely no problems to provide the undercover agent with the desired amount of cigarettes as well as ship them to Puerto Rico.

Arrested Mai now awaits the lawsuit in a remand prison.