Smuggled Cigarettes Paying for Terrorism

Fox news reports that, in a 15 page report it recently obtained, it is revealed that, each year, cigarette smuggling generates millions of dollars that can be easily reaching the hands of terrorists and funding their nefarious activities. $100,000 was shown to have been funneled to Hezbollah in just a single event.

Ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, (R-N.Y.), said, "This is a very serious homeland security issue, one that has gone unnoticed for far too long."

The report points to a major flaw in the practices and policies of the state of New York in regards to tax enforcement. New York generally refuses to collect taxes on Native American tax-free cigarettes that are being sold to non-Native Americans. The report goes on to show that smugglers can purchase tax-free cigarettes on Native American soil and flip them for a profit of up to $300,000 per week at a loss of up to $576 million dollars of New York state taxes. The report also shows that almost 60% of all convince stores in New York are owned by Arabs. Lebanese, Yemeni, Jordanian and Palestinian owners make up the bulk.

The Tobacco Industry asserts that smuggling can be reduced by controlling market forces, most notably, taxes, that help bring about cigarettes price differentials from area to area. While in the 1990's Canada and Sweden have been known to have reduced their cigarette taxes in order to combat the financial aspect of the smuggling trade, Spain and Andorra are pointed to by the tobacco giants as two of the few to have successfully tackled the tobacco smuggling problem.

It is know that there have been significant connections between Islamic terrorist and the illegal cigarette smuggling trade. The US government asserts that terrorist organizations are using this money to fund the supply of weaponry, tactical equipment, advanced technology, and computer gear.

In 2002 the Michigan State Senate refused to increase the tax on cigarettes in order to combat the illegal cigarette smuggling trade.

In March, the small country of Poland announced that it had cracked a major international cigarette smuggling ring. The former Soviet Union, China, and Great Brittan were all routs to Poland where smugglers would sell their illicit goods.

Long standing ally of the United states of America, the United Kingdom has also been fighting a prolonged battle with cigarette smuggling and the deeply imbedded forces of Islamic terrorism.

Resourses:
1. Fox News - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353017,00.html
2. BMJ - http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7266/947
3. Mackinac.org - http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=4461
4. Khaleejtimes.com - http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2008/March/theworld_March277.xml§ion=theworld