Published January 14, 2015
Mississippi is planning to auction about 855,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes as early as September.
A new law allows the auditor's office and State Tax Commission to speed up sales and open the auction to out-of-state vendors.
In April, a task force discovered thousands of cases of cigarettes in a warehouse in Mississippi. In May, the task force searched a distributing company in Tupelo.
The FBI said the raids are part of an ongoing investigation into a tobacco black market with ties to Mississippi, Kentucky and South Carolina.
The estimated value of the seized cigarettes is $20 million. State officials say their sale could yield more than $5 million in unpaid state taxes.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/mississippi-to-auction-855000-cartons-of-contraband-cigarettes