CORNWALL - When the Canadian Convenience Stores Association president talked to Canada's parliament about tobacco smuggling earlier this week, he implored the federal government to keep the port of entry in Cornwall to help control the flow of contraband into the country.
According to a press release from the Canadian Convenience Stores Association (CCSA), president Dave Bryans went before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security and urged the feds "to end the scourge of contraband tobacco," for starters, by making the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) temporary post a permanent one.
"If there is one thing members of this committee take away from our session here today, it is the location of the port of entry at Cornwall," Bryans said. "It is imperative that the port of entry remain on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River, as it has made it much more difficult for smugglers to transport contraband into Canada. Moving the port of entry back to Cornwall Island or onto the southbank of the St. Lawrence will return the situation back to one of last spring, when contraband was flooding into Canada."
However, the RCMP says the makeshift port of entry set up at the base of the Seaway International Bridge hasn't done much to stem the tide of cigarettes flooding in from the U.S., but it has rejigged where most of them cross the border.
"Ever since the CBSA has been in Cornwall, the amount of smuggling activity on the water has increased," said Sgt. Michael Harvey. "Smugglers have had to change their approach."
Before May 31, 2009, Harvey said hundreds of vehicles would travel to Cornwall Island every day to pick up loads of contraband cigarettes before the port of entry was closed over a dispute with residents of Akwesasne First Nation.
He said smugglers have been forced to explore alternate routes out of Akwesasne now that they are faced with a customs inspection when leaving Cornwall Island.
"Now all of those smugglers are coming to South Glengarry by water to drop off cigarettes in Canada," Harvey said.
The change in location of the customs house hasn't affected the sheer numbers of cigarettes being smuggled into Canada after being manufactured in several unlicenced factories on the U.S. side of Akwesasne, explained Harvey.
He noted that overall, the amount of contraband seizures by the RCMP's Cornwall detachment have gone down, but the Valleyfield detachment has seen more action since customs moved to Cornwall.
Bryans said that in 2008, contraband tobacco accounted for 48.6% of cigarettes purchased in Ontario, 40% in Quebec and 9.7% in the Atlantic provinces. Nationwide, the figure stands at 32.7% — a 98% increase since 2006.
When the St. Lawrence River was still frozen in January, the RCMP reported the number of seizures at the port of entry more than doubled because some smugglers had fewer options for transport routes.
The RCMP seized more than 5,000 baggies of cigarettes, where a typical week usually sees a haul of about 2,000 baggies.