Cigarette Smuggling Increase Prompts Crackdown by States
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Higher cigarette taxes are prompting a burgeoning smuggling trade along routes such as I-95 on the East Coast, and states are trying to stem the flood of illegal smokes to fight crime and regain lost revenue.
Lawmakers in Virginia and Maryland passed bills boosting the penalties on smuggling in the past year, and the Massachusetts Commission on Illegal Tobacco released a report March 1 with recommendations to crack down on trafficking. Legislation is also pending in states including New Jersey and Rhode Island.