Manchester, UK – Four Orthodox Israelis who attempted to smuggle 65,000 cigarettes into Britain, as was reported here on Vos Iz Neias, were fined, after which they returned to Israel.
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Yehuda Cohen, 23, Yehonadav Ades, 18, Hananel Eliyahu, 19 and Avraham Wales, 18, all pleaded guilty to the charges at Manchester Magistrates' Court. They were each fined £400 and ordered to pay £100 costs, and an order was given for the cigarettes to be destroyed. They paid up less than an hour after being sentenced and returned to Israel.
Marsha Myers, representing Eliyahu and Wales, thought to come from B'nei Brack, said in mitigation that they were religiously observant young men from a yeshivah. [thejc]
religiously observant liars.
well let me tell you .i went overseas and bought a large carton for someome lo and behold i arrived and the customs confiscated 3 cartons !! so what the duty free store sold was illegal to bring in (unless you pay the heavy taxes) .i disputed the charge and won!!
i do not understand why the mitigating circumstances of being religious yeshiva boys is relevant – except that it goes to show the extreme naivete of these guys!
[Anonymous 10:22: In Britain, the United States, and many other jurisdictions, significant taxes are imposed upon cigarettes and other tobacco products, such taxes significantly exceeding the value of the tobacco weed itself. In Britain, as in America, cigarettes whose price does not include the taxes are therefore significantly cheaper than those upon which all applicable taxes have been paid. The incentive to smuggle the cigarettes past the taxation authorities should be obvious.]
It is noted that the cigaretes in question were ordered destroyed. My question: Did these fine, upstanding yeshivishe role models purchase the cigarettes with their own funds, in hope of getting a return on their investment? If so, then their losses probably exceeded the fines imposed by the courts. And if they leveraged their purchase by using borrowed money, then they still owe their debts to the lenders, who, no doubt, awaited them upon their return to Lod Airport.
If, on the other hand, these paragons of propriety were merely mules who were smuggling the cigarettes into Britain for someone else, then they will have to answer to the owners of the cigarettes. And, knowing something about the organizational structure of the smuggling industry, I would venture to say that this is unlikely to be a very pleasant experience. Can you say “Bratva?”
Why smuggle cigarettes into Britain, is it illegal there? I don’t get it.
some yeshiva bochurim (and avreichim) will live a little longer after theese cigs are burnt and maybe they will consider stopping to smoke altogether.
What were they planning to do with the tobacco, sell it in England to make some dough!!