State cracks down on illegal cigarette sales

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state attorney general's office has begun a crackdown on the sale of cigarette packages that do not have a tax stamp.

Fourteen store employees at 12 stores have been arrested since Sunday for selling packs of cigarettes that did not carry the stamp. All of the arrests were made at independent stores in urban Honolulu, said Attorney General Earl Anzai.

A new state law requires that all packs of cigarettes sold or offered for sale must be affixed with a cigarette tax stamp. The law was implemented to ensure that taxes on cigarettes are paid.

An Advertiser story last December revealed that the state missed out on collecting nearly $20 million in 1999 because of black market sales of cigarettes. Cigarette wholesalers are responsible for paying the tax and placing the stamps on all packs to prove that the tax has been paid.

Anyone caught selling or intending to sell more than 1,000 cigarettes without a stamp could be charged with a Class C felony. The sale of under 1,000 cigarettes is a misdemeanor.

Anzai said most of those arrested over the past two days were for the more serious charge. He said seven of the 11 stores hit yesterday sold contraband cigarettes that didn't have stamps or possessed "gray market" cigarettes that somehow bypassed local wholesalers.

Although the wholesaler places the stamps on the cigarettes, Anzai said it's the responsibility of the retailer to comply with the law.

"I put it this way: They just can't sell it without a stamp. How they get a stamp on it is their problem, whether they go back to their wholesaler, or whatever," Anzai said. "Everybody should be aware of the law. There's no excuse for not having the stamp."

Anzai said he has brought in emergency hires to help with the enforcement of the law.

"There are a thousand outlets so we can't do it with our existing staff," Anzai said. "We fully expect to make arrests (today)."