by Christian Wade
Connecticut and other states have seized shipments of illegal cigarettes from China and other countries under a settlement with the U.S. Postal Service to resolve claims it wasn’t doing enough to crack down on tobacco smuggling.
A new report by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said between January and March the Postal Service seized 3,000 packages containing a total of 10,000 cartons of cigarettes shipped from overseas in violation of federal laws. Most of the illegal shipments were mailed from China, Israel and Russia, the AG’s office said.
Tong said the data shows that the provisions of a settlement are working, “resulting in the detection and destruction of thousands of smuggled cigarettes.”
“We took action to force USPS to do its job to stop the flow of foreign contraband cigarettes into Connecticut and the United States,” Tong said in a statement. “Contraband cigarettes cost states hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tax revenue and hinder smoking cessation efforts.”
A 2009 law approved by Congress prohibits the USPS from “knowingly accepting or transporting” cigarettes in the mail unless authorized. Tong said while the law has deterred domestic shippers, it has been “less effective” in stopping delivery of cigarettes from overseas because USPS has “routinely returned identified packages of cigarettes to their foreign shippers.”
In 2022, Connecticut, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York City agreed to a settlement with USPS to resolve allegations the federal agency had, for more than a decade, transported and delivered untaxed, foreign cigarettes to U.S. households in violation of federal law.
The settlement required USPS to commit to reforms, including ending its former practice of returning to sender illegally mailed packages of cigarettes.
The changes require USPS to seize and destroy cigarette packages, report the sender and recipient information to law enforcement and appoint a designated manager to oversee compliance with the agreement.
Connecticut officials said many of the smuggled smokes seized under the settlement were mailed in sufficiently large quantities to indicate they were intended for resale.
“These smuggled cigarettes cost all states, including Connecticut, hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost tax revenue, and hinder smoking cessation efforts,” Tong said.
Connecticut has one of the highest levels of cigarette smuggling in the nation, with about 27 precent of the smokes consumed in the state purchased from illegal outlets or smuggled across state lines, according to a recent report by the Tax Foundation.
That’s an estimated loss of more than $117 million for the state’s tax coffers, the foundation’s report noted.
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Christian Wade is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Cigarette” by Andres Siimon.
