Posted on: Monday, October 7, 2002

Cuban cigars hot as ever in America

By Mike Robinson
Associated Press

CHICAGO — The 39-year-old ban on trade with communist Cuba hasn't stopped America's rich and powerful from enjoying their favorite stogies.

Experts say America is awash in Cuban cigars despite government efforts to cut off the flow at the borders. Politicians, movie stars, business moguls and others willing to pay $50 a pop can easily tap into a brisk black-market trade, they say.

"I would say that you could get them at 90 percent of the cigar stores in the country, maybe 80 percent — I know 50 percent," said Diana Silvius, owner of a Chicago cigar shop who said she refuses to sell Cuban cigars.

Under terms of the trade embargo, Americans on government-authorized visits to Cuba may bring back $100 worth of cigars for their personal use. But reselling them is illegal, as is bringing in Cuban cigars purchased in other countries such as England, Canada and Mexico.

Most cigars that come into the United States in boxes marked "Hecho en Cuba" are smuggled in over the border.

Often, they're smoked by the smugglers. Sometimes, they're sold to trusted, wealthy clients by stores

specializing in fine cigars.

Customs agents who discover contraband usually just seize the cigars and allow the would-be smugglers to go on their way.

But a trial that got under way last week before U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman in Chicago underscores the harsh fate smugglers can meet.

Attorney Richard Connors, caught at the Canadian border with 1,150 illegal cigars, is facing charges including five counts of trading with the enemy that could send him to federal prison for years.