The two men busted for transporting untaxed cigarettes through the area sent up a smoke signal of sorts when they decided to obscure the license plate to their U−Haul truck, police said.
Members of the Brooklyn South Auto Larceny Unit pulled the over a U−Haul truck operated by Marvin Whatley, 30, and his brother Marlon Whatley, 32, near the corner of East 92nd Street and Ditmas Avenue at 12:30 am on May 15 because they had purposely covered the vehicle’s license plate, police alleged.
Police were quite surprised when they opened the back of the truck to find 58,000 packs of untaxed smokes packed in 117 boxes.
The Whatley brothers, residents of Sunset Park, were both taken into custody, charged with criminal possession of untaxed cigarettes. Marvin Whatley was also arrested for driving a motor vehicle with a suspended license.
Captain Michael Deddo, commanding officer of Brooklyn South Task Force honored Police Officers Arthur Diemicke, Robert Hardenfelder, Joseph Curcio, John Dixon and Sergeant Steven Yorkus, for the arrest.
