A 27-year-old Ottawa man is facing Excise Act charges after being stopped by OPP Thursday on Highway 138.
Shortly before midnight, an OPP officer stopped a 2002 Dodge Caravan and while questioning the driver, the officer observed cardboard boxes of cigarettes inside the van.
Officers from the Cornwall RCMP detachment were contacted to assist and the RCMP officers seized 2,000 resealable bags of contraband cigarettes (400,000 cigarettes) with an estimated value of $44,000.
The driver was charged under the Excise Act 2001 for possession of a tobacco product not properly stamped.
Police said the cigarettes are believed to have been manufactured in the United States and smuggled into Canada.
The 2002 Dodge Caravan, worth an estimated $5,325, was also seized. The driver was also issued a Highway Traffic Act ticket for driving while under suspension.
The accused will appear in a Cornwall court on Sept. 29.