JACKSON- State Tax Commissioner Ed Morgan and State Auditor Stacey Pickering have announced that a public auction will be held Tuesday, October 27 to sell approximately 1 million cartons of discount brand cigarettes and small cigars that were discovered in Mississippi in April 2009.

The auction will take place at 278 Hwy. 178, Tupelo (Lee County) inside the warehouse facility where the cigarettes and cigars were seized by the State of Mississippi following a multi-state investigation that resulted in the largest discovery of contraband tobacco in US history.

Any persons interested in bidding or any potential bidder who desires to view the inventory prior to the sale should contact the Tupelo Office of the State Tax Commission at 662-842-4316. Potential bidders should call prior to the date of the sale to provide their method of payment and their plans for transportation of the product if their bid is successful and to set a time for an inspection of the product, if desired.

“I appreciate the efforts of Commissioner Morgan and his staff at the State Tax Commission in working through the red tape to be able to sell these products,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering. “This discovery marks the largest of its kind ever found in the United States. The citizens of Mississippi are fortunate to have skilled tax and law enforcement professionals, like those with the State Auditor’s Office, State Tax Commission, Marshall County Sheriff, City of Tupelo Police, US Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, FBI and ATF, working on their behalf to ensure that cases are investigated and that individuals are held accountable when attempting to circumvent the law.”

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