More than 1,100 cartons of illegal cigarettes were seized in two separate busts by Maryland State Police and the Comptroller's Office on Wednesday. Police said two people from New Jersey, Patrick and Angela Devenny, had 483 cartons of cigarettes in their vehicle when they were stopped around 11:00 a.m. near the Maryland-Virginia state line.
The pair told police they purchased the cartons in Virginia, and were taking them to New Jersey to resell. Thirty-eight-year-old John Michael Padron, Jr., of New York was stopped by police around 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday. Police said Padron had 727 cartons of cigarettes in his van, and that he advised them he transports cigarettes from Virginia to New York about once a week.
Police said Padron purchased the cigarettes for around $30,000 in Virginia, and the tax loss to the state of Maryland is $14,540. Earl Fowlkes, the assistant director of field enforcement for the Comptroller's Office, told WBOC Rt. 13 is a key corridor for smuggling operations in Maryland. Fowlkes also said with increased cooperation on a local, state and federal level, busts are becoming more common.
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