Cigarettes can be seen in a tobacco shop in New York

Cigarettes are be seen in a tobacco shop in New York April 1, 2009. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

WASHINGTON D.C. (WRN) - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has endorsed a bill proposed by Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl to crack down on the black market sales of cigarettes.

When Kohl introduced the bill in May, he said the smuggling of cigarettes was especially lucrative for criminal and terrorist groups to pay for their operations. He said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives was investigating over 400 cases of illegal cigarette smuggling, after having just 6 cases 11 years earlier. Kohl said the illegal trafficking of tobacco costs states around $5 billion a year in lost revenue. And he said it gave teenagers easy access to illegal cigarettes on the Internet.

Kohl’s measure would toughen reporting requirements on interstate cigarette sales, and increase penalties for violators. The House passed a similar crackdown this past spring.