he international port of entry in the city proved a busy spot for the RCMP's Custom and Excise Unit over the past week as officers seized a few times the amount of contraband tobacco than the weekly average and arrested 15 people.
Between Jan. 5 and 10, the Mounties seized a total of 5,250 resealable bags of contraband cigarettes during 13 incidents.
According to Sgt. Michael Harvey, an average week for the local RCMP involves seizing about 2,000 bags (each one equivalent to a carton of 200) of contraband cigarettes from about four seizures.
Eight of the 13 seizures occurred at the Cornwall port of entry with the assistance of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Harvey noted that more than 1,000 kilograms of fine-cut tobacco was seized as well, which is a considerable amount considering that, on average, the RCMP tends to seize about 7,000 kilograms per year.
Almost 800 kilograms of the tobacco was seized during one incident near the river. A 23-year-old Toronto man was arrested.
The RCMP also seized 700 cartons of cigarillos and six vehicles.
"It was a significant week," Harvey said. "Organized crime groups are being forced to bring shipments across the bridge because the river is only partially frozen in most spots."
With the ice too thin to drive across and too thick to boat it, Harvey said smugglers have no other choice than to make their way to the port of entry at the Cornwall end of the Seaway International Bridge, where it was moved to from Cornwall Island in Akwesasne on July 13
The RCMP's Custom and Excise Unit hauled in a large amount of contraband tobacco, including this shipment hiddenin the engine of a vehicle.
after being closed for 42 days following a dispute with the First Nations people.
"(The smugglers) never used to have to go through the port when it was on Cornwall Island," Harvey said. "They would load up vehicles on the island and drive right into Cornwall."
Cigarettes are manufactured by unlicenced factories on the U.S. side of Akwesasne and sent to Cornwall Island by land or boat along routes that didn't require them to pass through Canada customs.
The 15 people arrested included several people from Akwesasne, a man near the St. Lawrence River from Oshweken, Ont. with the assistance of the OPP, four people from Cornwall and a man from Williamstown, South Glengarry Township.
One driver questioned by the CBSA ran the port of entry and fled to Akwesasne. The truck he drove and cigarettes inside were later seized with the help of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police, but the two people in the truck have not been found.
"There is a common theme to successful contraband tobacco smuggling interdictions and that is the cooperation between area law enforcement agencies who continue to work together to disrupt criminal activity in our communities", Harvey said. "Our primary goal is to keep our communities safe and to protect our border from organized criminals who continue to take advantage of the geography of this region."