LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Hundreds of thousands of illegal cigarettes are now off the street after another record-breaking bust for the Central Arkansas Drug Task Force (CADTF), marking the Arkansas Tobacco Control's second-largest seizure in history.
"Cigarettes are taxed at $1.15 a pack so when we seize 30,000 untaxed cigarettes, that's a lot of untaxed cigarettes and revenue that was not going to the state otherwise, and it hurts the people that are following the rules," explained Administrator of the Department of Finance and Administration's Regulatory Division Trent Minner.
According to Minner, the (CADTF) pulled over a semi-truck on Interstate 40 near Lonoke in early April 2024. Over 27,000 packs of untaxed contraband cigarettes were found along with over $4,000 in cash.
"So over $243,000 and untaxed tobacco this time, and it was over $300,000, the last stop in October, the last seizure so we're looking at over half a million dollars in retail value of untaxed illegal, smuggled cigarettes in the last six months," Minner said.
You may wonder how this pack of 20 could cause so much trouble than it already has. Well, Minner said that it goes deeper than just hurting Arkansas.
"Illegal untaxed cigarettes, it hurts the good guys, the good mom and pop operators here in Arkansas, and it also helps the bad guys we've known there's, consistent links between organized criminal activity, terrorist organizations and untaxed illegal cigarette smuggling being used to fund those operations," Minner said.
Minner added that 35-year-old Emile Bangoura of Georgia was arrested and transported to the Lonoke County Detention Facility where he will be charged with possession of untaxed tobacco.
"Monitoring illegal cigarette smuggling is important for two reasons, and one is illegal cigarette smuggling it hurts the good guys, and it helps the bad guys," Minner said.