AMHERST - Contraband tobacco continues to be an issue with local police agencies.
RCMP from the Amherst and Oxford detachments conducted a traffic checkstop at around 2 a.m. Sunday morning in Springhill Junction when a 37-year-old female and a 34-year-old male from Ontario were arrested after officers seized the contraband cigarettes and found open liquor in the vehicle.
Both are facing charges under the Excise Act and the Liquor Control Act and will appear in court later to answer to the charges.
"We're still seeing them and encountering them on our roads in Cumberland County," Const. Dal Hutchinson of the Cumberland RCMP said Monday. "This is the largest seizure we've made in the last couple of months. It is a significant seizure."
Hutchinson said besides the fact no tax has been paid on the tobacco, there's no way of telling what's in the cigarettes or how safe the product is. There are also hefty fines for selling or possessing contraband cigarettes.
"The fines, when convicted and found guilty, are significant," said Hutchinson.