$31K In Contraband Cigarettes Seized In Annapolis Traffic Stop

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Agents for the Maryland comptroller's office seized 4,900 packs of contraband cigarettes worth an estimated $31,000 following an Annapolis traffic stop and arrested a New York man for transporting contraband. Comptroller Peter Franchot said Thursday that agents from his office' Field Enforcement Division arrested the man as a result of a traffic violation in which contraband cigarettes were discovered.

"Thanks to the keen police work by Anne Arundel County Police and my FED agents, a tax cheat was caught, duly arrested and charged,” Comptroller Franchot said in a news release. “I’m proud of the cooperative efforts between my agents and other law enforcement agencies throughout the state to stem the flow of untaxed cigarettes and other types of tobacco products.”

Early Wednesday, Ali Nasser Mohsen Ashubi, 25, of Mount Vernon, New York, was stopped by Cpl. Joshua Dubrock of the Eastern Patrol Division of the Anne Arundel County Police Department for a traffic violation. Ashubi was driving a rented 2019 Dodge Durango SUV with North Carolina license plates at eastbound U.S. Route 50 and Oceanic Drive in Annapolis. During the stop, Dubrock discovered the contraband cigarettes and alerted FED agents.

When the comptroller's agents searched the vehicle they reportedly found 4,900 packs of contraband cigarettes valued at $31,605 that represent a tax loss to the state of $9,800, according to a news release. The cigarettes and car were seized and Ashubi was arrested.

Dubrock appeared before a District Court Commissioner in Annapolis and was charged with a felony count of transporting contraband cigarettes and a misdemeanor count of possession of contraband cigarettes. He was released on $5,000 bond, officials said.

For fiscal year 2019, which began July 1, 2018, FED agents have arrested and charged 49 people for various tobacco violations in 28 instances. Authorities have seized 24,693 packs of contraband cigarettes and 227,612 sticks of untaxed other tobacco products. The seized items are valued at $388,671.40 and represent a tax loss of $208,968.90, the comptroller says.

Image by Renee Schiavone/Patch