Taxes creating buttlegging!-----NY’s futile fight against illegal cigarettes | New York Post

NY’s futile fight against illegal cigarettes | New York Post:
"State authorities set a record in 2017 by seizing $6.6 million worth of illegal tobacco products, a $1 million jump over 2016.
The 2016 seizures, in turn, marked a increase from the year before. Indeed, for each of the past three years, the state has steadily boosted inspections — and wound up grabbing more illegal products.
Included in the 2017 haul were 47,000 cartons of illegal cigarettes, 1.5 million cigars, 134,000 counterfeit tax stamps and $445,000 in cash. Investigators also arrested 85 alleged tobacco smugglers.
That’s impressive.
But it raises a few questions: Are the ever-larger seizures putting any dent in tobacco smuggling — or do they merely reflect a growth in illegal activity? 
How many illegal cigarettes make it to the market anyway?
In November, a Tax Foundation study suggested answers: Since 2006, “buttlegging” here has climbed 60 percent, it found.
Illegal cigs today actually outnumber legal ones, making up 57 percent of the market..."