A truck driver was arrested in Arkansas after authorities say they discovered nearly 28,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes in his vehicle.
Arkansas Tobacco Control and the Central Arkansas Drug Task Force agents arrested driver Emile Bangoura, 35, of Atlanta, after an April 10 traffic stop on his semi-truck revealed the contraband cigarettes, authorities said in a news release. It was the second-largest seizure in Arkansas Tobacco Control history.
The cigarettes were valued at more than $243,000.
The largest illegal cigarette seizure was in October 2023 when authorities discovered nearly 33,000 packs during a traffic stop near Carlisle. The cigarettes were transported in a cargo van.
Trent Minner, who leads the regulatory division at Tobacco Control, said in the release that cigarette smuggling has “significant financial effects” on businesses that pay taxes to sell cigarettes.
The agency has seized more than $550,000 worth of illegal cigarettes in a few months, DFA Secretary Jim Hudson said in the release.
Bangoura was held at the Lonoke County Detention Facility. He did not appear to be in custody Friday, according to jail records. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
Investigators across the country have busted untaxed cigarette schemes. New York investigators arrested five people last year in connection to an illegal cigarette ring. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police busted a trucker earlier this year who allegedly hauled some 3.5 million illegal cigarettes.
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