1846-A - Forfeiture action with respect to tobacco products.
§ 1846-a. Forfeiture action with respect to tobacco products. (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 special duties, shall discover any tobacco products in excess of five hundred cigars or ten pounds of tobacco which are being imported for sale in the state where the person importing or causing such tobacco products to be imported has not been appointed as a distributor pursuant to section four hundred seventy-two of this chapter, such police officer or peace officer is hereby authorized and empowered forthwith to seize and take possession of such tobacco products. Such tobacco products seized by a police officer or peace officer shall be turned over to the commissioner of taxation and finance. Such seized tobacco products shall be forfeited to the state. The commissioner of taxation and finance 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 tobacco products at public sale and pay the proceeds into the state treasury to the credit of the general fund. Tobacco products so seized and sold shall be sold only to a distributor appointed under article twenty of this chapter and the notice of sale shall contain a provision to this effect. (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 the criminal procedure law, acting pursuant to his or her special duties, discovers any roll-your-own tobacco that is in violation of section four hundred eighty-c of this chapter, the officer is authorized and empowered to seize and take possession of the roll-your-own tobacco, and the roll-your-own tobacco is subject to a forfeiture action under the procedures provided for in article thirteen-A of the civil practice law and rules, as if that article specifically provided for forfeiture of roll-your-own tobacco seized under this section as a preconviction forfeiture crime. Subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to roll-your-own tobacco seized pursuant to this subdivision. (b) In the alternative, the commissioner, on reasonable notice by mail or otherwise, may permit the person from whom said tobacco products were seized to redeem the said tobacco products 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, if the commissioner concludes that any tobacco products seized pursuant to this section, when offered at public sale, will bring a price less than the reasonably estimated price which the department of correctional services would have to pay for the purchase of such tobacco products for sale to or use by inmates in institutions under the jurisdiction of such department, the commissioner may dispose of such tobacco products by transferring them to the department of correctional services for sale to or use by inmates in such institutions.