A Tacoma Park man was charged with cigarette smuggling after Maryland State Police found over 12,000 boxes of unstamped cigarettes in his truck.
Police say they stopped a 2018 Dodge Ram pick-up truck registered in Virginia for a traffic violation but soon discovered contraband cigarettes and notified the Comptroller's Office. The driver, Jermaine Shabazz Grant, 44, was arrested and is now facing felony charges.
Agents took 12,370 packs of unstamped cigarettes valued at almost $80,000, which would represent a tax loss to Maryland of $24,740.
Since July of 2017, FED agents have arrested and charged 148 people for various tobacco violations. Overall, this has resulted in the seizure of 169,314 pack of cigarettes and 448,053 sticks of other untaxed tobacco products valued at $1,550,956. If they were not seized, this would have resulted in a tax loss to the state of Maryland estimated at $720,877.
