State officials are complaining about tax revenue lost to the cigarette smugglers.

In a story in today's Star-Ledger, they cite some hard-to-believe statistics: Supposedly 40 percent of the cigarettes smoked in New Jersey are smuggled into the state by some loosely defined Menthol Mafia, and all these illegal smokes cost the state roughly $500 million in tax revenue each year.

So, the plan is to convict more smugglers. How? By teaming with the feds, by (possibly) hiring more investigators, by using surveillance and snitches, and by stopping more smugglers who bring cigarettes across state lines from states where the cigarette tax is cheaper.

The state also is mulling a high-tech (and more expensive) stamp on legitimate cigarettes.

If this effort winds up at least paying for itself, then fine. But it Seems like a lot of work, with many smugglers still falling through the cracks.

If the state wants to find money in its couch cushions, here’s a better way: Increase the fines, then write more tickets for drivers using their cell phones.

It’s time to get the message to these tech-addicted knuckleheads who put people’s lives at risk. Despite all the warnings, they’re still out there – texting and talking at 65 mph, and at $200 a pop (for the first offense, once a pending bill is passed), the cash register wouldn’t stop ringing.

Take some of the laid-off cops and put them in unmarked cars on the highways. An officer driving New Jersey’s roads for eight hours a day easily could write a ticket an hour, certainly no less than five a day.

It’s easy money (though it ain't a half-billion), and the jobs pay for themselves.

Plus, we’d be saving lives.