New York puts UPS’s culture on trial in $873M cigarette case

NEW YORK (AP) – New York regulators say the country’s largest package delivery company turned a blind eye for years to the prohibited shipment of untaxed cigarettes.

A federal judge on Wednesday will hear closing arguments in the city and state’s $873 million lawsuit against Atlanta-based UPS. At issue is the lucrative home delivery business for counterfeit smokes from shippers on Native American reservations.

In 2005, United Parcel Service Inc. agreed to look more carefully for signs its customers dealt in contraband cigarettes. A 2010 federal law added compliance requirements.

But city and state lawyers say UPS hasn’t taken compliance seriously.

UPS says it follows its own rules and all applicable laws. It says it isn’t responsible if some low-level employees acted unscrupulously.