Grey Poplars Inc. v. One Million Three Hundred Seventy-One Thousand One Hundred (1,371,100) Assorted Brands of Cigarettes

*1177 OPINION

Grey Poplars, Inc., a tribally-licensed business of the Yakama Nation, appeals the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the United States government in a civil forfeiture action against 1,371,100 assorted brands of cigarettes. 1 The forfeiture was based on the federal Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act (“CCTA”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2341-46 , which defines as contraband cigarettes in excess of 60,000 in quantity which do not bear evidence of payment of state cigarette taxes, with certain exceptions. 18 U.S.C. § 2341 (2). Grey Poplars contends that the CCTA cannot be applied to the cigarettes in issue, which were seized while in Gray Poplars’ possession on the Yakama Indian Reservation in the State of Washington. We affirm the district court’s judgment of forfeiture.

Background

On January 11, 1999, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (“ATF”) applied for and received a search warrant authorizing federal agents to seize all cigarettes not marked with Washington State tax stamps at a trading post on the Yaka-ma Indian Reservation. In executing the warrant, ATF agents seized 1,371,100 unstamped cigarettes.

The United States filed a civil forfeiture action,…