Illegal Cigarette Manufacturer Admits Violations

Native American Company Obtains Permit

NEW YORK, April 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ronald B. Turk, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) New York Field Division today announced that Tarbell Inc., an unlicensed cigarette manufacturer on the New York St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation, has agreed to forfeit $1.75 million dollars to ATF for prior violations of the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act and additionally has agreed to come into compliance with all Federal cigarette statutes.  Tarbell Inc. will also have to pay all of the required cigarette taxes under the Internal Revenue Code and has agreed not to illegally operate its cigarette Internet site in violation of the Jenkins Act.  

A permit enabling Tarbell Inc. to legally manufacture cigarettes on the reservation has been issued by the U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau effective April 7, 2010.

Tarbell Inc. is the second cigarette manufacturer on the St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation to resolve past violations of the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act and the Internal Revenue Code with ATF.  This agreement mandates that Tarbell Inc. will now be in compliance with Federal cigarette law and more importantly, decrees that Tarbell Inc. lawfully distribute cigarettes, pay all appropriate taxes on their products and maintain all the required records under law.

In 2006, Native Trading Inc. became the first St. Regis manufacturer to enter into an agreement and also forfeited $2 million dollars to ATF.  Special Agent in Charge Turk said, "The licensing of these two cigarette manufacturers will result in the U.S. government collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes during the coming years and will eliminate a significant source of contraband or black market cigarettes.  We will continue to work with our federal and state partners to identify those illegal cigarette manufacturers not paying federal taxes to ensure that these companies meet their legal tax requirements."

There are still several unlicensed cigarette manufacturers on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation which straddles the United States/Canada border.  The reservation has been a long time source of illegally manufactured cigarettes and distributed their untaxed cigarettes in both countries.  Mr. Turk commends Tarbell Inc. for voluntarily coming into compliance with Federal cigarette law and also reaffirms that ATF will continue to work with the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York to eliminate the manufacture and distribution of untaxed cigarettes.   

For more information about ATF visit our web site at www.atf.gov.

SOURCE Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

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