The Boone County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa is wondering how some $60,000 worth of cigarettes disappeared in a puff of smoke from a trucking company in Boone over the weekend, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, March 27.
Boone Freight Lines reported the theft Sunday, March 25 — 11 cases of cigarettes, or more than 500 cartons, were missing. Investigators told the AP the theft probably isn’t a coincidence because Iowa’s new cigarette tax has made them a hot commodity; the $1-a-pack increase went into effect earlier this month.
The sheriff’s office told the AP the cigarettes were on pallets wrapped in plastic; the packs hadn’t been marked with the tobacco tax stamp, and deputies think the missing sticker may lead them to the culprit.
