Regional Task Force Seizes 830,000 Contraband Cigarettes During a Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspection

Oct 30, 2007

(South Stormont, Ontario) On October 26th, 2006, at 3:00 p.m., members of the Ontario Provincial Police stopped a 2001 Ford cube truck that was travelling north on Highway 138 at Headline Road in South Stormont, Ontario for a Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspection. The OPP officer asked the driver what was in the cargo area of the truck and the driver replied that it was empty. Upon opening the rear door of the cube truck, the officer observed boxes of contraband cigarettes. Police officers from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment- Cornwall Office were contacted and they attended the location to arrest the driver and seize the smuggling truck and illegal cigarettes.

Located inside the truck were 4,150 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes which total 830,000 cigarettes not properly stamped according to the Excise Act 2001. The driver, a 31 year old male resident of County Road 43 in Monkland, 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 truck is owned by a female resident of County Road 18 in Martintown, Ontario. If found guilty, the driver faces a minimum fine of $132,800.

A significant seizure of this size clearly indicates that an organized crime group is engaging in a continuing pattern of serious criminal activities where the primary motive is profit. The Central St. Lawrence Valley Regional Task Force has seized the equivalent of 214,213 cartons of contraband cigarettes in 2006 and continues to disrupt criminal activities along the border between Canada and the United States.