$83K worth of untaxed cigarettes found during Berlin traffic stop

A man is facing charges, after Police say a traffic stop in Berlin resulted in the seizure of more than 12,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes.

Berlin Police say on Monday an Officer stopped a pick-up truck on Route 113 – Worcester Highway, at Burley Street. During the stop, the Officer says the driver appeared extremely nervous, and was behaving suspiciously. Berlin Police say they then called in a canine team from the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, but before the scan, Officers noticed that the bed of truck had a large amount of cigarettes inside.

The Maryland Comptroller’s Office was then contacted, which launched a joint investigation between them and Berlin Police. That investigation reportedly revealed 1,292 cartons of unstamped cigarettes which translated into 12,920 packs of cigarettes, with a $83,334 and a tax loss of $25,840.00 to the State of Maryland.

Police say the 2015 Toyota Tundra transporting the cigarettes, and the cigarettes were seized by the Comptroller’s Office. The driver, 22-year-old Bakeel Mofleh Alsayidi of New York, was reportedly cited for traffic violations, and charged with the transporting untaxed cigarettes, before being released after posting a $3,000 cash bond.