The Cayuga Nation of New York plans to take two counties to federal court after its smoke shops were raided on Tuesday.

The tribe says Cayuga County and Seneca County lacked authority to conduct the search and seizure. More than 1.5 million cigarettes and other tribal property were taken from two smoke shops.

The counties say they have jurisdiction because the smoke shops are not located on trust land. They want the tribe to collect state taxes on cigarettes sold to non-Indians.

The tribe is still going through the land-into-trust process for properties within its ancestral reservation.

Get the Story:
Deputies seize cigarettes from Cayuga Indian Nation stores (The Syracuse Post-Standard 11/26)
Indian stores raided (The Auburn Citizen 11/26)
Counties raid Cayugas’ cigarette stores (AP 11/26)