A Manhattan federal judge on Friday allowed civil racketeering and other charges brought by New York City against a group of transporters and distributors of cigarettes from North Carolina to New York.

The decision was a victory for attorneys from the New York City Law Department who gained success at the third time of asking for their second amended complaint, which accuses the cigarette distributors of evading taxes aimed at lowering tobacco consumption and mitigating the costs of disease caused by smoking.