May 3, 2007
(Cornwall, Ontario) On May 1st, 2007, at 4:45 p.m., an Intelligence Officer from the Canada Border Services Agency observed a suspicious truck travel off Cornwall Island and he followed the truck to Third Avenue in Cornwall, Ontario. At this location the officer was joined by an officer from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP detachment where they both observed the driver of the 1994 Ford pick-up truck unload cases of contraband cigarettes into a 2007 passenger rental van. As the RCMP officer approached the vehicles, two males fled on foot. The driver of the passenger van was captured and placed under arrest. Officers seized 1,500 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes that were manufactured in the United States and smuggled into Canada. In total 300,000 cigarettes worth $33,000 were prevented from being sold in the black market.
The driver of the passenger van, a 25 year old male resident of Wolfgang Drive in Nepean, Ontario, was released by police. This investigation continues and he could face charges for possession of a tobacco product that was not properly stamped according to the Excise Act 2001. The van was rented by a resident of Boisbriand, Quebec. The driver of the pick-up truck was not located. The registered owner of the pick-up truck is a female resident of Route 37 in Rooseveltown, New York. The rental van will be returned to the rental company and the pick-up truck was seized under authority of the Excise Act 2001.
According to the Criminal Code of Canada, organized crime refers to any group of three or more people engaged in a continuing pattern of serious criminal activity where the primary motive is profit. In the above case there were many people involved in an attempt to distribute the illegal cigarettes. Organized crime steals money from your pocket and your community and the RCMP discourages citizens from purchasing contraband tobacco from these groups.
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Sgt. Michael Harvey
(613)937-2831
Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment