Agents seized 27,940 packs of untaxed contraband cigarettes -- all menthol -- valued at more than $243,000 along with $4,142 in cash when law enforcement stopped a semi-truck on Interstate 40 near Lonoke last week, Arkansas Tobacco Control said Monday.
The 27,940 packs represent the second-largest seizure in Tobacco Control's history, the state agency said. The largest took place in October 2023, when agents seized 32,671 packs of untaxed cigarettes during a traffic stop near Carlisle.
In the latest seizure, a Central Arkansas Drug Task Force agent stopped the truck on Wednesday.
Part of what made the seizure unique, according to Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration spokesperson Scott Hardin, was that the trafficking vehicle was a semi-truck. The vehicle involved in the October seizure was a Mercedes van, and the cigarettes were part of a larger load, he said.
"This was a large vehicle; this was an 18-wheeler. There's a very good chance that this is tied into a larger tobacco trafficking ring," he said. "That's why we have an active investigation into this specific case."
After searching the vehicle, authorities seized the cigarettes and cash and arrested the driver, 35-year-old Emile Bangoura of Atlanta. Bangoura is in the Lonoke County jail, where he faces charges of possession of untaxed tobacco, according to Arkansas Tobacco Control.
"We are sending a clear signal that Arkansas will aggressively pursue and punish those trafficking illegal tobacco products," Trent Minner, the Department of Finance and Administration's regulatory administrator, said.
"These seizures are important for two reasons. One, we remove a large amount of illegal tobacco products from the state. Two, traffickers are made aware of these seizures and the consequences that accompany them," Minner said.
Inconsistencies among state laws are part of what motivates illegal tobacco trafficking, according to Hardin.
"Every state has different regulations when it comes to tobacco. What we see in a scenario like this is that someone obtains cigarettes in a state, legally or illegally, and then drives them from a state that has a low tax on tobacco ... to a state where there's a higher tax rate, which is illegal," he said.
This specific inconsistency is what motivates traffickers to bring illegal cigarettes to Arkansas, but in this case, the vehicle was likely passing through the state.
"You also have states that have banned certain types of cigarettes. For instance, California has banned menthol cigarettes. So you could have someone driving them from a state where they're legal, potentially across the country to a state where they're banned," Hardin said, adding that this is likely what happened in this instance.
As a result, these two busts happening less than a year apart is not a coincidence, said Hardin.
"Tobacco Control was established in '97, so over 27 years, the two largest busts have been within the last year," he said. "It's a big issue because tobacco laws vary so much from state to state. You could see packs of menthol cigarettes in a state where it's banned go for $40 plus. ... People can turn a huge profit on them."
Illegal packs of cigarettes are not sold on the retail market, according to Hardin. They do not have the proper stamping, so they are usually sold on the black market.
There are more than 5,200 active tobacco permits in Arkansas, according to Minner, who leads the Regulatory Division of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Arkansas Tobacco Control is a division of the state Finance and Administration agency's regulatory team.
Arkansas Tobacco Control distributes permits to tobacco sellers and ensures there is full compliance from sellers. It also destroys illegal tobacco products after they are seized.
According to Minner, allowing illegal tobacco products to enter the market has a detrimental affect on permitted sellers.
"The Arkansas Regulatory Enforcement Division will continue to work with, educate and develop lasting relationships with all our law enforcement partners to combat illegal cigarette trafficking and protect Arkansas businesses," he said.