Thread: 27,000,000 Cigarettes smuggled out of U.S.

I.C.E. News Release

August 14, 2009

South Florida resident admits to smuggling more than 27 million cigarettes out of the United States

MIAMI - Roman Vidal, 57, of Cutler Bay, Fla., has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud in connection with the smuggling of cigarettes out of the United States and into various European Union countries following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) led investigation. Vidal smuggled the cigarettes to avoid paying more than $6.5 million in customs and tax duties.

Sentencing has been set for November 10 before the Honorable Alan S. Gold.

According to court documents and statements made in court today, Vidal conspired with individuals located in Miami, Spain, Great Britain, Ireland and Germany, to smuggle cigarettes from the Port of Miami into Aachen, Germany, Dublin, Ireland, and Felixstowe, Great Britain. Vidal, who ran the Miami portion of the operation, arranged for the purchase of hundreds of cases of cigarettes from Panama and the transportation of those cigarettes into the Port of Miami. He then arranged for the purchase of secondary cargo such as yarn, wood flooring and building insulation material, to be used to conceal the cigarettes. Vidal directed the preparation of false bills of lading that only declared the secondary cargo. These bills of lading were presented to shipping companies and overseas customs services. Custom duties and taxes were based only on the falsely declared cargo and thus, no duties or taxes were paid on the cigarettes.

On four separate occasions from December 2001 through April 2008, Vidal smuggled 2,702 master cases of cigarettes - totaling more than 27 million individual cigarettes - out of the Port of Miami. Based upon the false bills of lading, only a few thousand dollars of custom duties and taxes were paid on each shipment. The true custom duties and taxes that should have been paid on these shipments totaled over $6.5 million dollars.

The investigation was conducted by ICE's Office of Investigations in Miami and the European Union Anti-Fraud Office based in Brussels, Belgium, as well as law enforcement agencies from Ireland, Great Britain, Germany and Spain.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Stone is handling the prosecution and Lincoln Jalelian, former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section assisted in the case.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

Last Modified: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0908/090814miami.htm