Two people were arrested Monday after the Syracuse Police Department raided Lancaster Market, according to court documents.

Police arrested Anwar Alkoubah, 39, and Abdulmageed Pady, 19, after authorities said they found 154 packages of counterfeit stamped cigarettes and 30 unstamped packages of cigarettes in the market, according to court documents. Alkoubah runs the store, Syracuse.com reported.

All cigarette packages sold in New York state must have a legitimate tax stamp issued by the state. Alkoubah and Pady allegedly obtained the cigarettes found in the market from non-licensed sources in efforts to evade New York state cigarette excise taxes, thereby defrauding the state, per the court records. The taxes paid on those 3,680 cigarettes would have amounted to roughly $800, according to court documents.

Food and other goods covered Lancaster Market’s floor on Friday afternoon. Jordan Muller | News Editor

Police charged Alkoubah and Pady with 154 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the first degree, criminal tax fraud in the fifth degree and possession of unstamped or unlawfully stamped cigarettes for the purpose of sale, according to court documents.

Possession of the cigarettes with counterfeit tax stamps is a felony, while criminal tax fraud and and possession of unstamped or unlawfully stamped cigarettes for the purpose of sale are misdemeanors.

Lancaster Market is a store on the 1000 block of Lancaster Avenue. The store was closed Friday, but food packages and other goods covered the floors.

Lancaster Market on Friday afternoon. Jordan Muller | News Editor

The Lancaster Market raid on Monday was connected to a raid of an apartment near Nottingham High School, Syracuse.com reported. In the apartment, police found cocaine, marijuana and 470 packets of synthetic marijuana.

Published on August 31, 2018 at 6:40 pm

Contact Catherine: [email protected] | @ccleffert