June 29, 2007
(Akwesasne, Ontario) On May 18th 2007, at 8:30 p.m., an officer from the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service stopped a 1998 Ford Windstar passenger van that was speeding on Cornwall Island East Road in Akwesasne, Ontario. As the officer approached the driver, he could observe several cases of contraband tobacco in the rear of the van. The driver was held and an officer from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP detachment arrived on the scene to continue the investigation under the Customs Act. The RCMP officer searched the van and seized 1,300 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes as well as the smuggling van. This represents 260,000 cigarettes that were manufactured in the United States and smuggled into Canada worth $28,600. The driver, a 20 year old male resident of Lindsey Avenue in Cornwall, Ontario provided both officers with a false name. As a result he 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 as well he will be charged for obstruction under authority of the Criminal Code. The driver has a trial date set for October 2007 for a similar Excise Act 2001 charge from an offence committed in 2006. The registered owner of the van is a female resident of Kawehnoke Apartment Road in Akwesasne, Ontario. The driver was released and will appear at the Cornwall Court at a later date. Akwesasne Mohawk Police will also charge the driver with the Highway Traffic Act offence of speeding.
These contraband cigarettes are manufactured illegally by organized crime groups across the St. Lawrence River in the United States. They bear no labels or markings and the ingredients of these cigarettes are unknown. Recent reports of contraband cigarettes seized in British Columbia show that feces and flies were found mixed in the contraband 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