Skip to main contentAs promised, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers has begun smoking out illegal Internet tobacco sales. This time, however, it's not tax-dodging tactics that have drawn Myers' ire (see "Smoke Signals," WW, Dec. 11, 2002), but underage sales.
With the help of a Justice Department investigator, a 14-year-old placed orders for one carton of cigarettes in February with three websites--dirtcheapcig.com, cyco.net, and eSmokes.com--using his mother's credit card. A week later,
the U.S. Postal Service and UPS both handed over the goods without requiring an adult's signature.
"This is an easy operation for us to run," says AG spokesman Kevin Neely. "We just find a minor willing to help, and if they get the product, we have a case."
The three companies, which are required to ensure that minors don't get their products, could face $25,000 fines and may be barred from peddling puffs in Oregon.
In a separate bust, Justice Department agents snagged Jorge Martinez-Anaya of Gates Market in Gates, Ore., for selling cartons of untaxed cigarettes from his store. The products either had no tax stamp or a Florida stamp, which typically indicates an Internet sale. Martinez-Anaya pled guilty on one count of unlawful distribution of cigarettes, earning him 18 months of probation and a $1,000 fine.
WWeek 2015