In a world where busts for illicit drugs are almost nightly news, it is easy to forget that many criminals still make a living from smuggling drugs that are quite legal and socially acceptable.
Due to the fact that legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol attract such high duties and taxes from government regulators, there is quite a bit of profit to be saved by avoiding such taxes. That at least is the obvious motivation for smuggling such goods. By simply moving goods accross state lines without declaring the goods to state agents, criminals are able to keep a relatively easy line of profit going.
So it happens that three Australian men have bene committed to stand trial with the prospect of up to ten years in jail. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Mark Coulton of Palm Beach in Australia, John Holloway, a truck driver and Ernst Hufnagl and employee at a P&O Port Terminal have all been committed to stand trial.
Their alleged crime? Illegally removing a shipping container containing ten million cigarettes with the intent of avoiding well over two million dollars in customs duty.
When figures liek that are on the table, it is little wonder that these crimes are attempted.
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