The new tax on cigarettes is supposed to
make $700 million for the state of Texas a year.
Smugglers along the border are stealing
some of those cigarette tax dollars by offering smokers a cheaper
alternative.
Sales have tripled at a cigarette store in
Southern New Mexico.
Driving to New Mexico to save $8 a carton
is worth it for some Texans, said Cigarette Outlet sales clerk Zach
Colcord.
Across the border in Mexico, street venders
peddle packs of cigarettes for half the price of smokes in Texas.
And more and more these days, lots of
customers try to avoid the sales tax hike by sneaking their stash across
the border and bypassing the booths set up by the state of Texas to
collect taxes.
Determined smugglers know the booths are
closed at midnight and reopen in the morning.
If the experience on the other border with
Canada is any indication: cigarrette smuggling could skyrocket along the
southern border.
"I think if the price got high enough,
they'd definitely develop a black market for them," said Texas smoker
Travis Salazar.
One method already being used in Mexico is
known as "trafico hormiga," like an army of ants, smugglers
carry small amounts of contraband across the border hidden in cars.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement report
some international rings traffic large shipments.
"It's the same, if not more, profit in
cigarettes than narcotics," said David Regalado of ICE.
Investigators on the largest illegal
cigarette case of its kind in U.S. history uncovered another danger:
counterfeit smokes. The ring was based in El Paso, but supply lines
stretched to China. The boxes and boxes of cigarettes with brand names
were all fakes. Five men wanted in that case are still on the run.
Others were cigarettes made by the
manufacturer but only for sale abroad.
"They'll show us the Mexican document
indicating it went south when in reality he bought that document in
Mexico," Regalado said.
Smugglers use the fake documents to hide
the fact that the cigarettes stay in the U.S. tax free.
"It's happening everywhere. And ever
since that case, more cases have been opened up all over the border and in
Canada as well," Regalado said.
In Texas, where more smokers are searching
for a lower cost way to satisfy their craving, some authorities are
bracing for a surge in black market cigarettes.
KENS video: Cigarette
black market begins to emerge
