Title 18 › PART I — CRIMES › CHAPTER 114 — TRAFFICKING IN CONTRABAND CIGARETTES AND SMOKELESS TOBACCO › § 2341
Gives plain meanings for key words used in the chapter. A "cigarette" is any roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or in something that does not contain tobacco, and it also covers tobacco rolls wrapped in tobacco-like material if they look or are packaged so people would buy them as cigarettes. "Contraband cigarettes" are more than 10,000 cigarettes found without the required state or local tax evidence where those taxes must be shown, unless they are held by certain people who are exempt, such as permitted manufacturers or export warehouse operators (or their agents), carriers with proper shipping papers showing quantity, source, and destination, sellers licensed by the State who have paid and accounted for the taxes, or government officers holding them while doing official work. A "common or contract carrier" is a transporter with the proper federal or state operating authority. "State" means any U.S. State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands. "Attorney General" means the U.S. Attorney General. "Smokeless tobacco" is tobacco cut or ground to be used in the mouth or nose without burning. "Contraband smokeless tobacco" means more than 500 single-unit consumer-sized cans or packages (or the equivalent) found without proper tax accounting, except for the same exempt holders listed for cigarettes.
Full Legal Text
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
18 U.S.C. § 2341
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110