There was an article in the paper today about a recent rash of robberies at local convenience stores. They are the “smash & grab” type of robberies, with cartons of cigarettes being pretty much all that is stolen.
My question is…what do you do with 50 or 60 or more cartons of cigarettes? Have a huge smokefest?
The logical answer (to me) is that the thief sells them, but to whom does he sell them? I would assume not to a convenience store, which would buy them from a supplier (right?) but would he sell them on the street corner? To friends? To a Mom & Pop type of store?
That’s a relief - I thought from the thread you’d stolen them. :eek:
Stolen goods are usually fenced at a fraction of their true value.
Since the thief can offer them cheaper than an honest supplier, he only has to find a crooked convenience store to get rid of them that way.
Here in the UK, we have much higher taxes on e.g. wine than France - just 20 miles away.
So people travel under the English Channel to a French supermarket, fill up a van with stuff, bring it back and make an instant ‘profit’.
Of course the Government insists they can’t resell it, and Customs officials will confiscate the goods, unless you can prove they’re for personal use i.e. you’re not going to resell them in the UK.
Once confiscated, the goods are usually destroyed. So my taxes pay for Government officials to burn cigarettes and pour wine away. :rolleyes:
Oh, and guess who also pays for thieves? Since insurance covers the loss, us honest guys pay through higher insurance rates.
So come the revolution, I’m going to put the Government and thieves up against the wall.*
If you watch Goodfellas, you’ll see the ‘mob’ hijack trucks and sell whatever was on them- including cartons of cigarettes- from a parking lot.
In addition, in places where there are state taxes on cigarettes, you can occasionally find small tobacco stores or independent convenience stores selling cigs for a much lower price- because they’ve been smuggled in without having the taxes paid on them (there’s apparently a stamp which is placed on the pack to show that the taxes were paid; I’m not sure how correct I am because my details are all from a Law and Order episode I saw where this was a minor plot point).
Or, of course, you can sell them (or give them) to friends- a single carton is a week-and-a-half for a pack-a-day smoker.
friends, neighbors etc. probably not the corner store (although that’s not impossible)
Shoplifting can be a fairly sophisticated crime in some respects. I knew a woman who had 6 kids, didn’t work and didn’t collect a penny of state aid. Her income was solely from shoplifting.
When I used to do frisks/searches of women at the correction center, some of the more notable theives would have little slips of paper with sizes on 'em (jeans mostly) so what was happening was that some one would ‘place an order’ for 4 pairs of jordache jeans size such and such and pay some set price. I’m not surprised that cigs have become a big commodity.
I’m your basic law-abiding citizen, so I was at a loss as to what you would do with so many cigarettes.
Either someone has a serious nicotine habit, or they were planning on selling them.
I just couldn’t see someone walking into the local 7-11 and saying to the manager, “Hey, I’ve got 50 cartons of Marlboros, wanna buy 'em cheap?”
In an autobiography of 30 years ago (Diary of a Hitman) the hood claimed he would walk into a NYC office and say “Anybody wanna buy cigarettes?”
He wrote that he could sell out a truckload in half a morning and no one ever asked if the proper tax stamps were on the packages.
In his case he was selling cartons from North Carolina.
What I want to know is this: when the twonie was introduced in 1996, someone broke into a rail car in Montreal and stole like $300 000 worth of twonies.
HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET RID OF $300 000 WORTH OF BIG TWO-DOLLAR COINS, especially when the coin’s brand new and the theft is all over the radio?
Note that in the following post, I am much older now and place a much higher value on honesty and am anti-theft.
When my ex and I first got together, he used to steal from the place he worked. I wound up with a freezer full of cigarette cartons. Despite a heavy smoking habit at the time, and a lot of sharing, I didn’t have to buy smokes for about a year and a half. I think that one good haul would ensure that you wouldn’t have to buy smokes for a VERY long time.
Do not attempt this at home. Stealing from your employer can have serious consequences.
As for people who bought them, although it is not quite the same, my boss used to buy smokes off of people from the reserve, where they paid no taxes. They’d make $5, and my boss would save $15. Probably not legal, but they had the right tax stripe on them, so it would be impossible to prove. I think that smaller establishments might be a little more open to accepting cigs of dubious origins.
A mate (foaf if you will) actually did this in… an unnamed country in Europe
He managed to flog them all in one week to the local schools!
They had these small kiosks and when they got word that he had slightly cheaper cigarettes than wholesalers, they bought them all and started a nice little cigarette selling operation.
He didn’t even knock that much off them, ciggies are expensive as hell there.
Worked for them! Hmm… are those sirens approaching?
Would it be wrong to steal a piece of bread to feed your family (question not valid in California)?
What if you have a large family? Would it be wrong to steal a truckload of bread to feed them?
And what if they don’t like bread, they like cigarettes?
*** And shame on the California Appeals Court which upheld a 25 year sentence to a man “with two strikes” for stealing four biscuits. Where’s the perspective? And how have we become more civilized over the last 500 years?
*Questions posted by Dr_Paprika *,
Answers by glee.
Would it be wrong to steal a piece of bread to feed your family (question not valid in California)?
No, but why are you in that situation? Can’t you get State assistance?
What if you have a large family? Would it be wrong to steal a truckload of bread to feed them?
Well I would wonder why you had a large family, when you couldn’t support them. But yes, starvation is worth avoiding.
Would you kill the driver if he resisted?
And what if they don’t like bread, they like cigarettes?
We part company. You said you wanted bread to feed them. I don’t care for criminals stealing to feed their drug habit.
**** And shame on the California Appeals Court which upheld a 25 year sentence to a man “with two strikes” for stealing four biscuits. Where’s the perspective? And how have we become more civilized over the last 500 years?*
OK, I don’t care for the 3 strikes rule (nor capital punishment). But just because a punishment is too severe doesn’t mean you are entitled to commit the crime.
In the last 500 years we’ve abolished slavery, freed the colonies, given votes to women - what is your point?
Keep in mind that stolen goods aren’t traded only among thieves. They are sold to what you consider solid, respectable citizens. Maybe you’re a milk-fed square from Delaware, but a lot of people you know have criminal contacts. A lot of people you know know how to get things at less than wholesale, because they were acquired by thieves just like the ones in question.
I don’t think there are many people who could not unload something as common as cigarettes, if they asked around.
absolutely. Garage sale bargains, second hand stores etc. some one once knocked on my door wanting to know if I wanted to buy the coat off his back. In Chicago, had the basic ‘wannabuyawatch’ guy (times 4), more than once.
[Mike Brady voice] “Remember kids- when you steal, you’re not just stealing from the store. You’re stealing from yourself” [/Mike Brady voice]
Well, I know for a fact what happens to assloads of cigarettes. They get stolen, and in a place like NY with huge taxes on cigs, they get brought to less reputable bars and sold therin. “Psst- hey. Wanna buy a carton of those for $15?” Voila- theif gets rid of smokes, makes money.
I’ve heard of a bar in Chicago where supposedly there’s a back room full of merchandise. This might have been many years ago. The guy I heard it from was an old-time hood.
I once had a guy tell me that he could place an order for a bicycle with someone, to be filled for only $50 or something. The idea was that UCLA would soon be short one bike after you placed an order.
