Henrico Police investigation nets $30 million in illegal cigarettes, 43 arrests

Forty-three people have been indicted on 743 indictments resulting from a year-plus long investigation into illegal cigarette trafficking, Henrico Police announced at a press conference Friday morning.

In late 2015, the Henrico County Police Division began to investigate illegal cigarette trafficking in Henrico County due to the violent crime that was associated with it. A number of robberies, shooting incidents, and burglaries were directly related to the illegal trafficking of cigarettes, police say. The investigation later developed into a larger regional and multi-state operation.

The broad investigation incorporated more than twenty agencies including local, state, and federal law enforcement as well as corporate business partners. This partnership collaborated to address what was determined to be an organized criminal enterprise. The suspects utilized fraudulent documentation to create twenty-nine fictitious businesses in Richmond Metro area.

Police say businesses would then be utilized to purchase large quantities of tax-exempt cigarettes. The cigarettes would then be transported out of state and resold for substantial profit. This investigation encompassed over 600,000 cartons of cigarettes with an estimated value in excess of $30 million.

All the indictments are for offenses that occurred in Henrico County.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated the value of cigarettes recovered was $300 million, not $30 million. We regret the error.