Alaska put a sin tax on cigarettes, and [surprise] smokes are being bootlegged in from the outside. Given their proximity to Russia some of them are being brought in from across the strait.

Cigarettes are taxed a dollar a pack in Alaska. Residents can legally order cigarettes over the Internet but are required by state law to get a license from the Revenue Department first and purchase Alaska tax stamps for every pack of smokes they bring in, according to Johanna Bales, who manages the state's tobacco tax program.

The intent of the stamp is to ensure that importers pay the state tax, Bales said.

The shopkeeper in Marshall had neither a license nor stamps, according to troopers.

The cigarette packs he was selling also lacked the required surgeon general's warning, Bales said.

"Even if they had a tax stamp on them, it's illegal to put a tax stamp on them" without that health warning, she said.

Gasp! No health warning! I bet a bunch of naive non-smokers lit up not realizing the negative health effects. It's a good thing these guys were caught. People could have been killed.

Hat tip to reader Tom Scott.