Indian stores raided

UNION SPRINGS - Patrol cars from the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office filled the parking lot of the Lake Side Trading convenience store in Union Springs for several hours on Tuesday as deputies executed a search warrant in connection with allegations of tax evasion by the tribe for the sale of untaxed cigarettes.

In a related operation, the Seneca County Sheriff's Offices executed a search warrant on Lake Side Trading's Seneca Falls store at the same time.

Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould said 15 of his deputies executed their warrant. Both stores are owned by the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York, which is not required to charge sales tax on purchases made by American Indians.