CBP seizes 2,250 cartons of counterfeit Camel cigarettes at Dulles Airport

STERLING, Va (WBFF) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized 2,250 cartons of counterfeit Camel cigarettes at Washington Dulles International Airport, marking another major seizure at a Baltimore-Washington region airport in recent days.

CBP said the counterfeit cigarettes, seized on Aug. 14, would have been worth more than $400,000 if they were authentic.

The shipment originally arrived at Dulles from Singapore through Japan on July 11 and was destined for an address in Miami, according to CBP.

Officers inspected 45 boxes labeled “Camel Yellow Cigarettes,” each containing 50 cartons of Camel-branded cigarettes.

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Authorities said officers detained the shipment after noticing an unusual logo design and markings, along with what CBP described as an odd shipping route.

Camel cigarettes are manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

CBP officers worked with trade experts at the agency’s Agriculture and Prepared Products Center of Excellence and Expertise, who contacted R.J. Reynolds for help authenticating the cigarettes.

The company ultimately determined the cigarettes were counterfeit, according to CBP.

Counterfeit cigarettes deprive the United States of tax revenue and pose a serious health concern to smokers who have no idea what, if any, dangerous chemicals they are actually inhaling with the tobacco,” said Area Port Director Christine Waugh, CBP Area Port of Washington, D.C. “Intercepting counterfeit products is a Customs and Border Protection trade enforcement priority and one way in which we can help keep consumers safe.

The counterfeit cigarette seizure came amid several other large CBP seizures at Dulles and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

A day after the cigarette shipment was seized, CBP officers at Dulles discovered nearly 368 pounds of khat inside eight checked suitcases belonging to a traveler who arrived from Paris, according to authorities.

The khat was valued at approximately $44,000, and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police later arrested 25-year-old Mohamed Diawara of New York on felony charges.

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The Dulles cases followed two major khat seizures at BWI earlier in the week.

On Aug. 13, CBP officers seized nearly 847 pounds of khat from two U.S. citizens from New York who arrived at BWI on a flight from London.

Authorities said the two travelers had a combined 12 suitcases filled with khat, valued at approximately $100,000. They were released pending an investigation.

That discovery came just two days after officers found more than 412 pounds of khat in luggage left behind at a BWI baggage carousel following another flight from London. The khat in that case was valued at approximately $50,000.

Combined, the three recent khat seizures at BWI and Dulles totaled more than 1,625 pounds.