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CORNWALL - A long dormant task force aimed at putting a stop to the sale and trade of contraband tobacco, drugs and firearms across the border has resurfaced in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
At the new headquarters of the Cornwall RCMP on Wednesday, the Mounties, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Cornwall Community Police Service and the Ontario Ministry of Revenue announced the rebirth of the Cornwall Regional Task Force, an anti-smuggling unit made up of officers from all of those law enforcement agencies.
RCMP Assistant Commissioner and Glengarry native Mike McDonell said the value of contraband cigarettes, which has tripled in recent years, has made smugglers "more brazen" in their criminal activity.
"There have been several incidents in which residents have been confronted by smugglers," McDonell said. "These kind of incidents make us very concerned for the safety of the area's citizens."
McDonell explained that the task force would often be augmented by deploying officers from the RCMP and other agencies to the Cornwall area on a temporary basis to crackdown on smugglers.
"Smugglers are becoming more aggressive in their approach, so we're becoming more aggressive in our approach," he said.
OPP Deputy Commissioner Chris Lewis welcomed a renewal of the "great work" done by the task force "now back in full swing."
Lewis was the head of the original task force in its infancy from 1993 to 1995.
"Smugglers have been using residents' private docks and taking all kinds of risks," Lewis said.
Lewis cited an incident last year in which a smuggler with thousands of cartons of cigarettes onboard a boat was stranded by a storm. Officers rescued him and seized a rifle as well.
"These smugglers pose a great risk to our officers as well and we won't tolerate it," Lewis said.
Lewis lamented that the majority of smuggling goes unreported because most people think it has no connection to organized crime, but said there is no doubt of a strong connection.
Lewis said the task force won't benefit from any additional funding.
"We're doing this within our existing resources, which we've had to realign to better address the problem," he said.
Cornwall Police of Chief Dan Parkinson said he appreciates the support of the RCMP and OPP in the battle against smugglers.
Although contraband cigarettes have been an issue for years, Parkinson said they've become a "chronic problem" in recent months.
"Smuggling has a significant impact on public safety," Parkinson said. "Public safety is our priority and officer safety is paramount."
"We want to assure residents we're doing everything we can to ensure their safety."
The original Cornwall Regional Task Force existed from 1993 to 2000 to combat the height of the contraband tobacco trade.
The need for the task force began to wane in the latter half of the decade when, in 1996, the provincial and federal government lowered the taxes on tobacco products considerably, according to RCMP Sgt. Harvey.
However, the numbers indicate cigarette smugglers are busier than ever.
In 2006, the Cornwall RCMP seized 239,322 cartons of cigarettes - almost 48 million smokes - in the Cornwall and Akwesasne area, according to Harvey.
That was a 200% increase from two years earlier and a 10 per cent increase over the task force's peak seizure rate in 1994, he said.
In April 2009, the RCMP seized a record haul of 13 million cigarettes from one search, which was followed by a nearly five million cigarette seizure in May.
The original task force included the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, which has since been rebranded the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Harvey said the CBSA will also be involved in the new version of the task force, but in more of a supporting role.
Akwesasne Mohawk Chief of Police Jerry Swamp was at the press conference Wednesday to support the new task force as well.
Harvey noted that all of the police agencies involved in the original task force have continued to work together in different forms since 2000.
The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) targets the hierarchy of organized crime groups in the area, while local police agencies work on maintaining cross-border security and law enforcement with the New York State Police and the U.S. agencies such Customs and Border Control.