2023 New York Laws › TAX - Tax › Article 37 - Crimes and Other Offenses, Seizures and Forfeitures › Part 6 - Seizures and Forfeitures › 1846 - Seizure and Forfeiture of Cigarettes.

§  1846.  Seizure and forfeiture of cigarettes.--(a) Whenever a police
officer designated in section 1.20 of the criminal procedure  law  or  a
peace  officer  designated  in  subdivision four of section 2.10 of such
law, acting pursuant to his or her special duties,  shall  discover  any
cigarettes  subject to tax provided by article twenty of this chapter or
by chapter thirteen of title eleven of the administrative  code  of  the
city of New York, and upon which the tax has not been paid or the stamps
not  affixed  as required by such article or such chapter thirteen, they
are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  forthwith  to  seize  and  take
possession  of  such  cigarettes,  together  with any vending machine or
receptacle in which they are held for  sale.  Such  cigarettes,  vending
machine  or  receptacle seized by a police officer or such peace officer
shall be turned  over  to  the  commissioner.  Such  seized  cigarettes,
vending  machine  or  receptacle,  not including money contained in such
vending machine or receptacle, shall be  forfeited  to  the  state.  The
commissioner  may, within a reasonable time thereafter, upon publication
of a notice to such effect for at least five successive days, before the
day of sale, in a newspaper published or circulated in the county  where
the   seizure   was  made,  sell  such  forfeited  vending  machines  or
receptacles at public sale and pay the proceeds into the state  treasury
to  the  credit of the general fund. Notwithstanding any other provision
of this section, the commissioner may enter into an agreement  with  any
city  of  this state which is authorized to impose a tax similar to that
imposed by article twenty of this chapter to provide for the disposition
between the state and any such city of the proceeds from any such  sale.
All cigarettes forfeited to the state shall be destroyed or used for law
enforcement  purposes,  except  that  cigarettes  that  violate,  or are
suspected of violating, federal trademark laws or import laws shall  not
be used for law enforcement purposes. If the commissioner determines the
cigarettes   may   not   be  used  for  law  enforcement  purposes,  the
commissioner must, within a reasonable time after the forfeiture of such
cigarettes,  upon  publication  in  the  state  registry,  destroy  such
forfeited  cigarettes. The commissioner may, prior to any destruction of
cigarettes, permit the true  holder  of  the  trademark  rights  in  the
cigarettes  to  inspect  such forfeited cigarettes in order to assist in
any investigation regarding such cigarettes.
(a-1) Whenever a police officer designated  in  section  1.20  of  the
criminal procedure law or a peace officer designated in subdivision four
of  section  2.10  of  such  law,  acting pursuant to his or her special
duties, shall  discover  any  cigarettes  which  have  been  stamped  in
violation of section four hundred eighty-b of this chapter, such officer
is   hereby  authorized  and  empowered  forthwith  to  seize  and  take
possession of such cigarettes, and such cigarettes shall be subject to a
forfeiture action pursuant to the procedures  provided  for  in  article
thirteen-A  of  the  civil  practice  law  and rules, as if such article
specifically provided for forfeiture of cigarettes  seized  pursuant  to
this  section as a preconviction forfeiture crime. Subdivisions (b), (c)
and (d) of this section shall not apply to cigarettes seized pursuant to
this subdivision.
(b) In the alternative, the tax commission, on  reasonable  notice  by
mail  or otherwise, may permit the person from whom said cigarettes were
seized to redeem  the  said  cigarettes,  and  any  vending  machine  or
receptacle  seized  therewith,  by  the  payment  of the tax due, plus a
penalty of fifty per centum thereof, plus interest on the amount of  tax
due  for  each  month  or  fraction  thereof  after  such tax became due
(determined without regard to  any  extension  of  time  for  filing  or
paying)  at the rate applicable under subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a)
of subdivision one of section four hundred eighty-one  of  this  chapter

and the costs incurred in such proceeding, which total payment shall not
be less than five dollars; provided, however, that such seizure and sale
or  redemption  shall  not  be deemed to relieve any person from fine or
imprisonment provided for in this article for violation of any provision
of article twenty of this chapter.
(c)  In  the  alternative,  the  tax  commission  may  dispose  of any
cigarettes seized pursuant to this section, except those  that  violate,
or are suspected of violating, federal trademark laws or import laws, by
transferring  them  to  the  department  of  corrections  and  community
supervision for sale to or  use  by  incarcerated  individuals  in  such
institutions.
(d)  Cigarettes seized pursuant to a violation of section four hundred
seventy-three-b of this chapter shall be destroyed. The  department  may
also  seize  and  destroy  any  vending  machine  or receptacle in which
cigarettes stamped in violation of section four hundred  seventy-three-b
of this chapter are held for sale.