CORNWALL -- For years, contraband cigarettes have been passing through Cornwall's streets. Now, the illegal product is landing right at the city's front door.
With the temporary port of entry in Cornwall hindering the preferred smuggling route, an increasing number of smugglers are resorting to delivering their product by boat at various points along Cornwall's waterfront to assistants who then help unload the illegal cigarettes and store or ship them elsewhere.
According to the RCMP, the contraband cigarettes are being boated across to a variety of spots such as east-end neighbourhoods, the harbour and cotton mill district, St. Lawrence College and points further east towards Summerstown.
On Monday night around 11 p. m., police witnessed eight people unloading items from a boat at the foot of McConnell Avenue near the cotton mills. The individuals fled on foot and RCMP seized 1,250 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes.
"It's getting really ridiculous actually," said RCMP Sgt. Michael Harvey. "This is (happening) right here in the heart of Cornwall."
Traditionally, Harvey said, vehicles would pick up contraband tobacco on Cornwall Island and head north, and the RCMP would try to intercept them as they headed over the Seaway bridge. However, the makeshift customs post has made it more difficult for smugglers to transport their product across the bridge, Harvey said, so they've essentially cut out the middle step and began boating it directly from the U. S. or Cornwall Island to Cornwall's waterfront, often after dark.
The result is that smuggling activities have become increasingly more visible in the community, the officer said.
"People can see the suspicious activity," Harvey said, adding the police department has fielded a growing number of calls from concerned residents about unusual activity along the waterfront.
Harvey said marina operators and residents are being offered money to "ignore" the goings-on, and in some cases, the smugglers resort to storing the cigarettes in homes or boathouses until they can be shipped off.
On Sunday night, the RCMP found 1,500 bags of illegal cigarettes inside a boathouse near Summerstown. Harvey said the property owner claims to know nothing about the situation, and police are still investigating.
Harvey said the smuggling activity is the work of organized crime groups who have a foothold in the city.
According to Harvey, a group from New Brunswick was stationed in the city last week, and they were performing surveillance on the RCMP's activities on the river. The local RCMP detachment has also made seizures involving "Toronto people" in recent weeks, the sergeant said.
Beyond the constant stream of local cigarette seizures, Harvey said they've also made some seizures recently in the Thousand Islands and Saint-Zotique regions, a fact which suggests the smugglers may be casting their net wider to the east and west of the city.
Harvey said the temporary customs facility in Cornwall has helped to decrease the availability -- and increase the price -- of illegal cigarettes, and he believes that situation could be further magnified once part of the river turns to ice this winter.
"The prices might go up (even more)," he added.
During the past week (Oct. 29 to Nov. 5), local authorities seized 3,750 bags of contraband cigarettes and one vehicle and made five arrests.