Finished hand-rolled ``Torpedos'' are stacked in a pile at the Caribbean Cigar Factory. AP photo

  Women smoking cigars

Web-Posted

By John Pacenti
The Associated Press

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - On South Beach, where would-be models toil as barkeeps, tourists go topless and drag queens stroll past neon-lined hotels, the ultra-hip have a new indulgence: the illegal Cuban cigar.

The cigar craze of the 1990s has given smugglers something besides drugs and counterfeit cash to sneak into the United States. They have been caught bringing illegal cigars into Florida and states as far from Cuba as Arizona and Washington.

Not surprisingly, with so many smokers yearning to be cool, plenty of bogus Cuban stogies are also turning up.

``It's the forbidden fruit,'' said Michael Sheehan, spokesman for the U.S. Customs Office. ``Cigars have become tremendously popular, and Cuban cigars are legendary for their quality. You have a natural supply and demand.''

Master roller Manuel Medina puts the finishing touches on a top-of-the-line ``Torpedo'' at the Caribbean Cigar Factory in Miami's Little Havana. Mr. Medina rolled cigars for 25 years at the famous Partagas company in Cuba before coming the United States four years ago. AP photo

Mr. Sheehan picks up two yellow-and-black-labeled Cuban Cohibas he keeps on his desk and crinkles them between thumb and forefinger. ``Props,'' he says.

Cuban cigars have been illegal in the United States since 1962, when the federal government imposed a trade embargo to try to thwart the Communist leadership of Fidel Castro. Serious violations can bring fines of as much as $250,000 for individuals and up to 10 years in prison.

The illegal cigar trade has boomed this year. A premium Cuban cigar such as a Cohiba or Montecristo can fetch $25.

Invariably, the first question a novice asks in a Miami cigar store is, ``Where are the Cubans?''

``You would be surprised how people don't know about the embargo,'' said Sabine Swindal, manager of the Caribbean Cigar Factory on South Beach. ``Or people assume you have Cuban cigars stashed that you keep for your special customers, but of course we don't.''

Caribbean Cigar has ridden the cigar-puffing trend to handsome profits. Cranking out cigars from its workshop in the Little Havana section of Miami, it first offered stock to the public Aug. 7 and watched its value shoot from $7 to more than $11 that first day.

Jacky Hay of Miami Beach enjoys a stoggie on South Beach's trendy Ocean Blvd., Thursday, Sept. 19, 1996. The cigar craze in North America has seen sales for premium cigars jump 30.6 per cent last year with sales of 170 million and figures for the first 5 months of 1996 are up 51 per cent. AP photo

In 1995, nationwide sales of all cigars increased 9.9 percent, after a 9.3 percent increase the previous year. That year, smokers bought 170 million premium cigars, a whopping increase of 30.6 percent, and the Cigar Association of America says premium sales in the first five months of 1996 were up 51 percent.

Customs agents realized that demand for illegal Cuban smokes was growing when Anthony Richard Sperandio, 58, was caught with 2,700 cigars in the Florida Keys in August 1995. He reportedly told authorities that he and a cohort had bought the cigars in Cuba for $3,600 and figured to net more than $28,000.

In the past, most cigar contraband was seized from travelers returning from legal, political or humanitarian trips to Cuba and exceeding the allowed limit of $100 in Cuban merchandise, including cigars.

``We used to just have people ... having a few too many cigars with them, but now we are seeing more and more the large commercial operations,'' Mr. Sheehan said.

But he also puzzles over the smugglers' smarts.

``Why should you go to that significant risk when you can stay right here in the U.S., go down to the local grocery store and buy inexpensive cigars, unwrap them and print one of your own bands that looks like a Cohiba?'' Mr. Sheehan asked.

``It's a big problem, counterfeit cigars,'' said Sandrine Stratford, a manager at South Beach News and Tobacco. ``A lot of people smoke Cubans. They want a Cohiba, even if it's fake. They want to be seen at the club with the Cohiba ring on their cigars.''