Oct 25, 2007
(Cornwall, Ontario) On October 19th , 2006, at 4:43 p.m., police officers from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment, Canada Border Services Agency and the Ontario Provincial Police stopped a 1999 Chrysler Intrepid on Highway 138 in South Stormont, Ontario. Upon further investigation officers located 550 re-sealable bags of illegal cigarettes throughout the vehicle. The vehicle and cigarettes were seized. The driver, a 21 year old female resident of White Road, Akwesasne, Ontario was arrested and will be charged under Section 32(1) of the Excise Act 2001 (unlawful possession of a tobacco product that was not stamped in accordance with the provisions of the Excise Act 2001). The owner of the vehicle is a male resident of the same residence.
During the same evening, at 6:20 p.m., police officers stopped a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander van on Highway 401 west of Boundary Road in Cornwall, Ontario. Upon further investigation officers located and seized 1,000 cartons of DK brand cigarettes in the interior of the van. The driver, a 40 year old resident of Pond Drive in Thornhill, Ontario was arrested and will be charged under the Excise Act 2001 for possession of tobacco that was not properly stamped. The van was a rental vehicle from the Toronto area.
Shortly after, at 7:00 p.m., police officers from the RCMP stopped a 2006 Ford pick-up truck on Hamilton Street in Cornwall ,Ontario. Officers located and seized 1,250 re-sealable bags of illegal cigarettes. The pick-up truck, which was a rental truck from a Ottawa auto rental agency, was also seized as it was the second time it had been stopped with contraband product on board. Amanda Lynn McLaughlin, the 26 year old driver who resides at 443 Hillcrest Avenue in Cornwall, Ontario was arrested and was charged under the Excise Act 2001 for possession of tobacco products not properly stamped.
Finally, at 8:20 p.m., on October 19th, 2006, police officers from the Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP, Cornwall Community Police Services and the Ontario Ministry of Finance stopped a 2002 Ford F150 pick-up truck on County Road 15 leading to Avonmore, Ontario. Officers located and seized 2,700 re-sealable bags of illegal cigarettes and also seized the smuggling truck. Mathieu Daniel Bellavance, the 21 year old driver who resides at 320A Carleton Street in Cornwall, Ontario was arrested and was charged under the Excise Act 2001 for possession of tobacco products not properly stamped. A Ford dealership located in Ottawa, Ontario is the registered owner of the truck.
There are associated impacts from the sale of contraband tobacco which include massive tax revenue losses. Currently officers from the Ontario Ministry of Finance are reviewing the above investigations and will be laying charges against the drivers under authority of the Tobacco Tax Act.
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Sgt. Michael Harvey
(613)937-2800 Ext. 293
Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment