Content created:2006-12-19

(Cornwall, Ontario) On December 15th , 2006, at 03:00 a.m., officers from the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service were on patrol in the vicinity of the Canada Customs office located at the Port of Entry on Cornwall Island in Akwesasne, Ontario when a suspicious truck hauling a Haulmark utility trailer was observed driving with no lights. The officers began to follow the truck and trailer through the toll booth going towards the bridge to Cornwall when the driver fled off the main road and onto a dirt road below the bridge. Due to the rough terrain, the trailer became unhitched from the truck and the driver sped off. The officers took control of the trailer and located cases of contraband cigarettes. Officers from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP detachment were contacted to seize the smuggling trailer and contraband cigarettes. Located inside the trailer were 4,750 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes representing a total of 950,000 cigarettes that originate from the United States. No arrests have been made at this time and the investigation continues.

On December 18th, 2006, at 10:00 a.m., an officer from the Cornwall Community Police Service stopped a 2001 Ford Expedition on Highway 401 east of McConnell Avenue in Cornwall, Ontario under authority of the Highway Traffic Act. When the officer approached the driver’s side window he observed cases of contraband tobacco inside the vehicle. The driver admitted to the officer that he was transporting cigarettes. Officers from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP detachment were contacted and attended the scene. The RCMP officers arrested the driver and seized the smuggling vehicle and illegal cigarettes.
Located inside the vehicle were 1,000 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes representing 200,000 cigarettes that originate from the United States. The driver, a 22 year old male resident of Walton Street in Cornwall, Ontario, was arrested and will be charged under authority of Section 32(1) of the Excise Act 2001 (possession of a tobacco product not properly stamped according to the Excise Act 2001).

The co-operation and assistance from both the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service in seizing such a significant load of contraband cigarettes on the Akwesanse Mohawk Territory and the Cornwall Community Police Service in disrupting the delivery of illegal cigarettes to its destination in Quebec demonstrates the strength of police agencies working together with the RCMP in keeping our communities safe from organized crime.

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Sgt. Michael Harvey
(613) 937-2800 ext. 293
Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment