July 24, 2007
St-Stanislas-de-Koska, Quebec - On July 18th, 2007, at 9:56 p.m., officers from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP detachment- Valleyfield Office were conducting surveillance on a 2007 GMC Cube Van that was a rental van from a St-Laurent, Quebec car rental agency as it was travelling from Highway 132 until it was stopped at the intersection of Highways 236 and 201 in St-Stanislas-de-Koska, Quebec. During the subsequent investigation officers seized a total of 1,545.45 kilograms of bulk cigarette tobacco located inside the cargo area of the truck. The value of this tobacco is $139,090.50 and the value of the truck that was seized is $35,000.
The 57 year old male driver and the 25 year old male passenger, both residents of Kahnawake, Quebec, were arrested and will be charged by the RCMP under authority of 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. Samples of the illegal tobacco will be given to the Quebec Provincial Police Contraband Investigative Unit working under Project ACCESS so that they may also charge the driver under the Provincial Tobacco Tax Act.
In Quebec, the RCMP is working in close partnership with the Montreal City Police and the Quebec Provincial Police in a joint team called project ACCESS which targets the contraband market. The illegal tobacco trade is about people profiting through criminality. In 2006 the team busted a major organized crime ring smuggling illegal tobacco manufactured in the United States into Quebec and Ontario. The operation called “Project Bluette” resulted in 26 arrests. Items seized were: 435 cases of contraband cigarettes; 37 vehicles used to smuggle and distribute contraband tobacco; $600,000 worth of real estate; approximately $700,000 in cash and 9 firearms.
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Sgt. Michael Harvey
Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment
(613)937-2831