Police found nearly $40,000 worth of contraband cigarettes during a routine traffic stop in Howard County on Tuesday, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot announced.
Maryland State Police confiscated 6,000 packs of cigarettes from a single car after an officer pulled over a vehicle with New York tags for a traffic violation on Interstate 95 South in Howard County. The trooper noticed the large quantity of cigarettes, and the comptroller’s Field Enforcement Division was called to the scene.
The driver, 23-year-old Brooklyn resident El-Housseni Hassan, was charged with transporting contraband cigarettes and possession of contraband cigarettes in the state of Maryland.
The transporting charge carries a $50-per-carton fine.
