Two out-of-state residents were charged March 10 with possessing and transporting unstamped cigarettes in the state of Maryland.
Comptroller Peter Franchot wants stiffer penalties for those crimes.
After a state trooper stopped their 2013 Nissan Altima for speeding on Route 113 at Route 589 near Showell at about 12:15 p.m., he searched the car and found 430 cartons of untaxed cigarettes.
The driver, Baligh Mohamed Alsaidi, 32, of Hazelton, Pa., and his passenger, Bassam M. Algazali, 37, of Bronx, N.Y., said they bought the cigarettes in Virginia and were taking them to New York to sell.
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10 comments:
Why all the fuss over this.Looks to me New York is the one who should be mad.All of the man power wasted on these crimes could be directed to solving real crimes
How in the hell did they get 400+ cartons of cigs in an Altima?
Why all the fuss over this.Looks to me New York is the one who should be mad.All of the man power wasted on these crimes could be directed to solving real crimes
March 23, 2013 at 4:46 PM
I agree with you. The only illegal activity in Maryland is travelling through Maryland.
They are trying to FORCE people to buy cigs in Md. instead of Va. where they are cheaper.
They say IF the cigs were bought in Md. so much would be paid in taxes to Md.
That's a big IF. People are NOT going to buy them in Md. at such prices, especially when they can get them a lot cheaper in Va.
They think they are losing tax money, but they are not. They are assuming if they stop people from buying in Va., they will buy in Md. and they will collect their extortion.
Not gonna happen. At best, if they stop them from buying in Va., they will buy them in De.
Maryland is so damn crooked. They won't be happy until a cop gets shot taking people's property.
Franchot said that the Feb. 27 incident in Worcester County was “a prime example of the dire need for Senate Bill 69’s passage.” Such crimes, he stated, “rob our state of much needed revenue.”
In Circuit Court in Snow Hill on Jan. 14, Assistant State’s Attorney William McDermott said the cigarettes had a retail value of $19,556.40 and if they had been purchased in Maryland, the state would have had income of $6,064 in taxes.
Judge Dale Cathell said Maryland is spending money because of taxes not paid to New York. He fined Dahan $5 per carton and issued a 30-day suspended sentence.
Think this is bad? Wait until untaxed dog food enters the smuggling pipeline. They can't help themselves!
Think this is bad? Wait until untaxed dog food enters the smuggling pipeline. They can't help themselves!
The more I think about this the more I get pissed off.
They are taxed cigarettes. Just not taxed in Maryland, because there were not bought in Maryland.
Are they gonna start taking people's gasolene because it was bought in Va. and not Md., but they are traveling through Md.?
Maryland has priced itself out of the competition so it resorts to it's main theme and becomes a bully yet again to take money and property from people who have the misfortune of traveling through their state.
The state of Maryland acts like the mafia in this regard. Buy from me or else.
If any state would have a problem with it, it would be the state that Va. cigs are being sold in at much reduced prices.
And even then, it's that state's fault for raising the prices (and taxes) so high that entice people to shop elsewhere.
And on top of that, they are forcing you to buy in their state or they will take your merchandise, your money, arrest you, put you in jail, make you spend more money on lawyers and court costs, fines, and tell you it's your own fault for not buying THEIR cigarettes.
You know, those things that are so bad for you, what multiple states sued the makers of for health issues and got billions of dollars from them.
States and the tax man does not believe in free trade? Interstate commerce?
Maryland certainly is not being hurt. They can't lose tax monies on a sale that will never exist. They getting their math lessons from Obama?He came up with some tricky numbers himself a time or two.
What a freaking corrupt state Maryland is.
And like the judge said," Maryland is SPENDING money, (taxpayer money), because of taxes not paid to New York.
How does the people of Maryland like their tax monies being used for purposes such as this?
This time the guy was fined 5 bucks a carton which comes to 2,050. How much money was spent in surveillance, court costs, etc.?
Bet it was more that 2,000 dollars.
Ridiculous waste of time and law enforcement resources. Doesn't everyone travel to tax free Delaware for the savings? What's next, stopping us at the border and collecting the sales tax? Does this amount to a crime?
According to Maryland law you are supposed to pay sales tax to Md on anything you buy out of state. You can bet they are going to try to figure out a way to collect. Anything in your home in Maryland that you didn't pay Md sales tax on could be considered contraband.
"Does this amount to a crime?" Yes, it's organized crime by the people Marylanders put in office. If you do it, it's jail for you. If they do it, it's a wink of the eye.
Why should the Government have the right to add sales tax to anything?
Why exactly does the Government deserve a cut?
When you add up all the Government taxes and fees we pay 40% of our income to the Government so they can do as they please with it no matter if it is against the majority wishes.
STOP the TAXES NOW. Enough is enough.
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