The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today announced the arrest of a Bronx resident for the possession and transportation of untaxed contraband cigarettes.

The Department seized 997 cartons of Marlboro, Newport, Parliament and Kool brand cigarettes bearing Virginia stamps that were stuffed into black plastic garbage bags and stacked in the back of a van.

The defendant was identified as Mouhamadou Konate, 41, of 837 Trinity Avenue.  He was charged with three felonies, including the possession and transport for sale of 30,000 or more cigarettes and attempting to evade cigarette taxes.  He additionally faces one misdemeanor count for the possession or transport for sale of unstamped or unlawfully stamped cigarettes.

The arrest, in front of Konate’s apartment by the Tax Department’s Cigarette Strike Force, a unit within its Criminal Investigations Division, followed lengthy surveillance in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.

The defendant was released on his own recognizance.  A court date has yet to be set.  The case will be prosecuted by the Bronx County District Attorney.

A criminal complaint is an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. 

If you suspect someone is evading taxes by selling untaxed cigarettes, you can report it to the Department by calling 518-457-0578. 

Connect with the Tax Department

• Governor Cuomo Announces New Strike Force to Crack Down on Illegal Cigarette and Tobacco Trafficking and Sales
  
  
• Governor Cuomo Announces State Tax Department Secures Nearly $4 Billion Over Past Year Through Aggressive Efforts to Crackdown on Tax Evasion
  
  
• Two Arrested by Cigarette Strike Force Investigators