MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - Six people have been charged in West Virginia with illegal cigarette trafficking.
U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II announced the indictments Monday.
The defendants are Mohamed Abdo Elbarati, 30, of Winchester, Virginia; Farouk Mohamed Aldaylam, 28, of Queens Village, New York; Amir Mohamed Alsaidi, 37, of Baltimore; Fahd Hamood Aljahaf, 37, of Bronx, New York; and Galal Hameed Kassim, 29, and Muneer Kaid Khaled, 25, both of Brooklyn, New York.
All are charged with conspiracy. Elbarati, Aldaylam and Alsaidi also are charged with transportation of contraband cigarettes.
The indictment says Elbarati, owner of Smoke Palace in Winchester, bought millions of dollars worth of cigarettes from wholesalers and resold them to out-of-state smugglers. The cigarettes were processed and transported in West Virginia.