United Parcel Service Inc. was ordered Thursday to pay a reported $247 million in damages to New York State and New York City for the illegal shipment of cigarettes. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had ruled in March that the package-delivery company had failed to establish proper procedures to flag the shipment of millions of cigarettes from Native American reservations. “We’re very pleased that the Court agreed with us on all claims, finding that UPS has repeatedly violated numerous state and federal contraband cigarette trafficking laws–as well as its own agreement with the State–by shipping hundreds of thousands of cartons of cigarettes to consumers in New York,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. UPS was not immediately available for comment. The stock was little changed in light premarket trade. The stock has lost 7.6% year to date, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average has edged up 1.3% and the S&P 500 has gained 7.9%.
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