New Data on the Prevalence of Illicit Trade in Cigarettes

• In Event: Criminal Networks and Crime Control

Abstract

Illicit trade in tobacco products (ITTP) is big business in the US, and has been described as a “principal stoking facility of the engine of organized crime”. To improve data availability in this area, we are assembling a large, novel set of data from discarded pack studies (DPS). In DPS, teams of researchers collect all discarded cigarette packs in a neighborhood. Packs are examined for the absence of local tax stamps and other telltale signs that indicate an illegal purchase or counterfeit product. We describe the data, instruct researchers how to access the data, and analyze the prevalence of ITTP. Data from 23 collections in 10 US cities from 2010 to 2014 are available. 5,000 observations are available in each collection. Each observation includes dozens of variables covering the brand, location (ZIP code), tax status, counterfeit status, and other information on the pack. There is significant evidence of tax avoidance (up to 62.6% of packs, in New York City). There is also a significant amount of illicit trade (counterfeits, cigarettes produced for black market sales, and cigarettes without any tax stamps), up to 34% in Buffalo. These data will be highly useful for research in illicit markets and organized crime.

Authors

• James E. Prieger, Pepperdine University

• Alberto Aziani, Università Cattolica - Transcrime

• Jonathan Kulick, Pepperdine University

• Neill Norman, Cornerstone Research