(11/15/06) MINEOLA - Nassau police arrested eight people and confiscated more than $750,000 in cash Wednesday in connection with a suspected illegal cigarette ring run out of the Poospatuck Indian Reservation.

Four of the people arrested in Mastic were from Long Island. According to police, authorities confiscated tens of thousands of cigarette cartons, 15 cars, two trucks, a camper, loaded handguns and a shotgun. Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice says Ronald Bell and his wife, Yvette Mitchell, ran a store on the reservation. Rice says the couple bought tax-free cigarettes because the store was on the Indian reservation and were only legally allowed to sell their products on the property. According to Rice, Bell and Mitchell sold the cartons for $15-$30 profit each, robbing state and local municipalities of tens of millions of dollars in taxes.

If convicted, each suspect faces up to four years in prison.