Nov 5, 2009 7:45 pm US/Eastern
14 Charged With Illegal Buys Of 77 Million Cigs
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) ―
Fourteen people were charged Thursday with illegally purchasing 77 million contraband cigarettes from undercover agents in Virginia over the last year and smuggling the tobacco into New York.
Two are also accused of paying an agent posing as a hit man to kill a husband and wife whom they believed had stolen 3 million cigarettes from them.
The indictments handed up Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria are the culmination of a yearlong investigation by federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and deputies from the sheriff's office in Stafford County, where many of the transactions took place.
Authorities say the smuggling ring paid more than $8 million cash plus 39 firearms, 160 grams of cocaine and 32,000 pills of purported Ecstasy to the undercover agents in exchange for the cigarettes.
Cigarette smuggling has increased in recent years as high taxes in New York and elsewhere have made smuggling more profitable.
In response, ATF agents in Virginia have conducted a series of large-scale investigations. Dozens of people have been charged with illegal smuggling of more than 250 million cigarettes purchased in undercover transactions, nearly all of which end up in New York and New Jersey.
As smuggling has become more profitable, ATF spokesman Michael Campbell said the potential for violent crime associated with it has increased.
The defendants live in Virginia, Maryland, New York and the District of Columbia. Nine will make initial appearances before a federal magistrate Friday; five remain at large.
Another 16 people were arrested Thursday as part of the investigation and charged with state crimes.
No charges have been filed yet related to efforts to arrange killings, but a court affidavit states that two suspects paid $7,000 as a down payment to hire a hit man. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Alexandria, said the investigation continues and further charges are pending.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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