30s and 40s on the east coast and a sunny 83 in phoenix. cigar lovers gathering in cuba for the largest cigar festival in the world. it kicks off tomorrow. people from 80 countries are expected in the cuban capital to sample what many suggest are the best cigars in the world. guests will be able to puff all they like as well as tour cigar factories and tobacco plantations. sales for cigars totaled nearly half a billion dollars last year. and are you a big cigar guy? i was once. back in florida, playing golf on the golf course. but i got green one day and just lost my [ coughing ] there you go. i m glad you quit. yeah, i quit. i like the smell of a cigar, but i can t i just can t do it. i m not cool enough. no? no. and you know, of course the economic embargo against cuban cigars. so even if you did want to cough up on one of them all right. coming up, challenges of
bad news for serious cigar folks. shipment of illegal cigars is turning up by the thousands in chicago and being stopped dead in their tracks. senior homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve has details. reporter: a lot of cigar lovers will not get their christmas wish. you are looking at contraband. not drugs. not weapons. not terrorist bombs. but cuban cigars. seized by customs and border protection at chicago s o hare airport. george leon saw the first package last month as he screened incoming international mail. after that, they just kept on coming. bags worth just kept on coming down the line, okay. then before we knew it it was all spread out. reporter: they kept coming. for weeks. how many would you guess? we re estimating right now about 100,000.