(Akwesasne, Ontario) On March 9th, 2007, at 5:45 a.m., officers from the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service stopped two suspicious passenger vans whose rear passenger seats were removed and found both vans to be loaded with contraband cigarettes. The first van was a 1996 Plymouth van and it was stopped by one of the officers on Cornwall Island in Akwesasne, Ontario. As the officer approached the driver, he observed several boxes of contraband cigarettes inside the van. While stopping the first van, the officer requested his colleague to stop the second suspicious van which travelled off Cornwall Island towards Cornwall. The second officer stopped a 1998 Pontiac Transport van at the corner of Brookdale Avenue and Seventh Street in Cornwall, Ontario. The officer approached the driver and observed several boxes of contraband cigarettes inside the van. Officers from the Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment were contacted and they attended the two locations to arrest the drivers and seize the contraband cigarettes and smuggling vans.
Located inside the Plymouth van were 1,700 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes. The driver, a 45 year old male resident of Adolphus Street in Cornwall, Ontario was arrested and faces charges under Section 32(1) of the Excise Act 2001 for possession of a tobacco product not properly stamped according to the Excise Act 2001. The van is registered to a 27 year old male resident of Concession 8 in St. Andrews, Ontario. Located inside the Pontiac Transport van were 1,500 re-sealable bags of contraband cigarettes. Police arrested the driver of the van who is the registered owner. The 36 year old female resident of Sixth Street in Cornwall, Ontario also faces charges under Section 32(1) of the Excise Act 2001 for possession of a tobacco product not properly stamped according to the Excise Act 2001. These two seizures represent a total of 640,000 contraband cigarettes that were manufactured in the United States and that were smuggled into Canada. Both drivers were later released and will make their first appearance at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall on April 30th, 2007.
In recent weeks the Central St. Lawrence Valley Regional Task Force has had a large increase in contraband tobacco seizures. Many law enforcement agencies are working together to disrupt the illegal activities of organized crime groups. The total tobacco revenue evaded with these two seizures amounts to $135,915.
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Sgt. Michael Harvey
(613)937-2831
Central St. Lawrence Valley RCMP Detachment