Opinion

Terror, taxes and tobacco

Ever wonder who funds terrorists? Guess what: It may be you — if you buy cigarettes in New York, that is.

How? Officials last week said they nabbed 16 members of a smuggling ring with ties to jihadis like the blind sheik behind the ’90s terror plots in the city; a top Hamas official, and Rashid Baz, who shot a Jewish student on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The gang got $55 million from cigarette sales. And NYPD boss Ray Kelly says some profits might have gone to terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Can’t say we’re surprised. We’ve been warning about this for years. In 2008, for instance, we cited links between illegal smokes and “funding for al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas — to the tune of millions of dollars a year.”

Anyway, the smuggling is predictable when your city has the highest tobacco levies in America. Butt-leggers who buy low-tax cigs in Virginia can sell them here and make a pretty profit.

Anti-smoking pols like Mayor Bloomberg claim taxes discourage smoking. But a Mackinac Center study this year estimated that three out of five cigarettes smoked in New York were bought elsewhere.

So smoking rates may drop far less than officials suggest based on sales figures. The city and state lose massive tax revenues. And terrorists get rich. Can someone tell us the point of all this again?