Unstamped Cigarettes Seized At Border

State agents Thursday seized a truckload of more than 26,000 cartons of cigarettes believed to be headed to a Washington Indian reservation as part of a smuggling operation, the Department of Revenue said.

It was believed to be the largest seizure of unstamped cigarettes in Washington, Revenue Department spokesman Mike Gowrylow said.

The cigarettes have an estimated retail value of $520,000 and represent a potential tax loss to the state of nearly $260,000, Gowrylow said.

Agents found 26,381 cartons of cigarettes in a tractor-trailer rig driven by a Kansas trucker who stopped at a Washington State Patrol weigh station along the Oregon border at Plymouth, south of the Tri-Cities, Gowrylow said.

Authorities detained the truck after learning that it contained unstamped cigarettes destined for smokeshops at an Indian reservation. Gowrylow refused to name the reservation.

The truck was searched after authorities obtained a warrant. The driver was released and likely will not be charged, Gowrylow said.

Under state law, cigarettes cannot be imported into Washington except by bonded wholesalers, or by people who have notified the Revenue Department and then attach Washington tax stamps to the cigarette packages before they are sold.

Treaty rights allow tribal members to buy and consume a certain number of cigarettes tax-free, but cigarettes cannot be brought onto Indian reservations without state approval. In addition, non-Indians found in possession of untaxed cigarettes are subject to a fine.