NEW YORK — Cops in Queens stopped a man’s plan to illegally sell 1,382 cartons of untaxed cigarettes last week after they conducted a search warrant at a Woodhaven garage. Officers from the 102 Precinct worked with the Queens District Attorney’s Office and found the garage filled with tens of thousands of counterfeit tax stamps and hundreds of thousands of cigarettes allegedly belonging the 34-year-old suspect.
In addition to the 1,382 cartons of cigarettes there were also individual packs seized, totaling nearly 300,000 cigarettes. The cost of the illegal and untaxed cigarettes on tax payers is near $500,000.
The suspect was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, criminal possession of forgery devices, cigarette and tobacco products tax/attempt to evade or defeat tax, cigarette and tobacco products tax and possession or transportation of untaxed cigarettes with intent to sell.
