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Nabbing Cigarette Bootleggers
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 20, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 20, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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Not only does Mayor Bloomberg want smokers not to smoke in certain public places, he wants them to give up their bootlegged cigarettes by reporting bodegas, grocery stores, and bootleggers themselves who sell cheaper cigarettes. The Mayor wants to pass a bill that would give rewards to whistleblowers; theoretically, the person could receive up to 15% of the owed taxes (the Post's example: "A bust leading to $1 million in tax collections could reap a $150,000 reward"). State officials think they are losing about $80 million in revenue a year in bootlegged cigarettes. Cigarette smokers, who now pay about $7.50 per pack ($3 in city and state taxes) have never hated Bloomberg more. And next we'll have Christopher Hitchens being a mule in the cigarette bootlegging market. Now, we can't begin to assume to guess what people might do for money, but this plan will only work from those crazy health conscious types - no self-respecting young New Yorker would risk the wrath of smoker friends are tattling on their secret cheap cigarette connection.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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