VOA标准英语2010年-US States Target Black Market Cigarett

Smuggling¹ costs billions of dollars in lost tax revenues

Faiza Elmasry | Washington, DC 11 August 2010
 

A truckload of black market cigarettes could be worth $2 million in profits for smugglers.

Lawmakers across the U.S. have raised taxes on cigarettes to provide local governments with much needed funds.

But a thriving black market in cigarettes is costing governments billions of dollars a year in lost revenue. That's prompted agencies at all levels to join an effort to fight cigarette trafficking.

Price of a smoke

The price of a smoke varies widely across the United States, because each state sets the tax imposed on the retail³ sale of a pack of cigarettes.

In some states, it's a few cents. In others, it's several dollars. So, with 45 million American smokers⁴, cigarettes are big business.

So is cigarette smuggling.

Smugglers stock up on cigarettes in low-tax states or buy them tax-free on Indian reservations. Then they transport them to states where the price of a pack is higher. The higher the tax in the state where the smugglers unload the cigarettes, the greater the profit.

Huge profits

"Right now a tractor-trailer load of illegal cigarettes will net the truck driver about $2 million in profit," says Ted² Deeds, spokesman for the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, a private law-and-order advocacy group.

Deeds points out that profits for the smugglers mean uncollected taxes for the states, money that's needed to fund local services, especially education.

"The Wall Street Journal has reported that the individual states are losing approximately $5 billion annually⁵, simply from the lost taxes caused by the illegal cigarette black market," he adds.

Cigarette taxes are a vital revenue source for New York State, which has the highest-priced cigarettes in the nation - almost $15 a pack.

State taxes make up more than $4 of the cost. New York City tacks⁶ on an extra levy⁷ of $1.50. The state is collaborating⁸ with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, known as the ATF, in cracking down on the cigarette black market.

Cracking down

Brad Maione, with New York's Department of Taxation⁹ and Finance, says the agencies have been conducting long-term undercover investigations¹⁰.

"This work is dangerous, difficult and involves out-of-state operations," he says. "We've been relatively¹¹ successful over the years in fighting bootlegging. We did a case in March that resulted in numerous arrests. That was about $11 million in tax-loss for the state."

"ATF, you know, worked literally¹² on hundreds of cases across the country in recent years," says Jeff Cohen, an ATF spokesperson. "One of our more noted¹³ success was a case a couple of years back involving a Hezbollah terror cell in North Carolina that was transporting cigarettes to the State of Michigan and making a great deal of money on the untaxed cigarettes and then was using the money to basically buy military equipment."

In spite of many successes, Cohen says, fighting cigarette smugglers is becoming more difficult.

"One of the major problems around the world is the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit¹⁴ cigarettes," he explains. "In recent years, these companies have become much more sophisticated, up to the point where it's impossible to tell the difference between the counterfeit cigarettes and the actual cigarettes."

And, he says, law enforcement's efforts are often hindered by a lack of resources - and other priorities.

Sophisticated smugglers

"In particularly, at ATF, we focus primarily on violent crimes," says Cohen. "When you have people who are trafficking firearms or engaged in blowing up buildings, or engaged in drug trafficking, sometimes cigarette trafficking is not considered a high priority. The other thing is that criminals are very clever. They often insulate themselves by having many different transactions in between where cigarettes are ultimately sold."

Raising public awareness¹⁵ about this crime is essential to stopping it, according to the Law Enforcement Alliance of America's Ted Deeds.

"America's police need to do a better job letting everybody in America know there is a black market," Deeds says. "And every person in America needs to make better choices and obviously not to buy it. And if they see somebody selling stolen [items] out of the back of a truck, call local law enforcement and report that. Second, law enforcement has to have a seat at the table when we talk about what to do next. Maybe we secure the border. Maybe we increase the penalty. Maybe we decrease the profitability."

Deeds says developing more cooperation among various federal and local agencies can help combat smuggling. And he adds that it would be useful for U.S. law enforcement officials to coordinate¹⁶ with foreign agencies and governments, since cigarette smuggling has increasingly become a crime with no borders.

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

5 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

6 tacks   

大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法

参考例句：

• Never mind the side issues, let's get down to brass tacks and thrash out a basic agreement. 别管枝节问题，让我们讨论问题的实质，以求得基本一致。
• Get down to the brass tacks,and quit talking round the subject. 谈实质问题吧，别兜圈子了。

7 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

8 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

9 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

10 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

15 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

16 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。