$241Gs fine for contraband cigarettes

A Gatineau man will have to come up with almost a quarter-million dollars after he was convicted for possessing contraband cigarettes.

Peter Sheim was picked up by Windsor cops on April 7 after they stopped his vehicle and found 473,600 unmarked smokes. The illegal cigarettes were seized, forfeited to the Ontario government and the Ministry of Revenue's Special Investigations Branch followed with charges.

Sheim was convicted in Windsor court on Jan. 26 and fined $193,000. Revenue officials said he must also pay a $48,250 surcharge to the Victims' Justice Fund.

Over the past two years, about 75 million illegal smokes have been seized in Ontario by ministry investigators and inspectors, the province said in a release.