May 17, 2007
(Akwesasne, Ontario) On May 11th, 2007, at 10:40 p.m., officers from the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service stopped a 1995 Dodge passenger van that was travelling west on Cornwall Island East Road in Akwesasne, Ontario. As the officers approached the driver, they could observe several cases of contraband tobacco in the rear of the van. Subsequent investigation by the officers confirmed that the driver, a 20 year old male resident of Willow Avenue in Cornwall, Ontario, was trespassing on the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory and was operating an uninsured vehicle. The driver was held and officers from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP detachment arrived on the scene to continue the investigation under the Customs Act. RCMP officers searched the van and seized 1,400 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes as well as the smuggling van. This represents 280,000 cigarettes that were manufactured in the United States and smuggled into Canada worth $30,800. The driver was arrested and will be charged by the RCMP under Section 32(1) of the Excise Act 2001 for possession of a tobacco product that was not properly stamped according to the Excise Act 2001. He was later released and will appear at the Cornwall Provincial Court on June 23rd, 2007. Akwesasne Mohawk Police will also charge the driver with several provincial offences and the offence of trespassing under authority of the Indian Act. The van is registered to a female resident of Highway 15 in Lindhurst, Ontario. All information from this seizure will be shared with the Ontario Ministry of Revenue so that they may continue their investigation under authority of the Tobacco Tax Act.
There are many effects on our society by the continue flow of illegal cigarettes coming into Canada from the United States. These include the increase of the tax burden for taxpayers, the prevention of legitimate businesses from carrying out their activities in a climate of fair competition and it also encourages young people to take up smoking through unrestricted access to inexpensive cigarettes.
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Sgt. Michael Harvey
Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment
(613)937-2831
Chief of Police Lewis Mitchell
Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service
(613)575-2340