Forty-Six people arrested for Possession of Contraband Tobacco

Between Nov.13, 2008, and Nov. 24, 2008, the Cornwall RCMP Detachment coordinated a High Intensity Enforcement Project in the Cornwall area to disrupt the contraband tobacco supply chain.  Resources were temporarily deployed from RCMP Detachments located in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario to support this operation.  Officers from the Canada Border Services Agency, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Integrated Criminal Intelligence Section, Cornwall Community Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police, Ontario Provincial Police Organized Crime Enforcement Team (POCET), Quebec Provincial Police and the Ontario Ministry of Revenue Special Investigations Branch also participated in this operation.

Individuals and vehicles involved in contraband tobacco smuggling departing the Cornwall area towards Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa were identified and intercepted. This joint operation focused on targeting individuals who belong to various organized crime groups, which facilitate the distribution of the contraband tobacco throughout Canada. The result of this operation permitted the partner law enforcement agencies to intercept forty-eight different vehicles in the following regions:

24 vehicles in Cornwall, Ontario

14 vehicles in South Glengarry, Ontario

7 vehicles in South Stormont, Ontario

1 vehicle in Ottawa, Ontario

1 vehicle in the St-Justin-de-Neptune, Quebec

1 vehicle in Riviere-Beaudette, Quebec

Only some of the individuals’ names have been released to date as they await formal charges. Those already charged in this operation include:

Mikayla OAKES, 19 of Hogansburg

Kent RICE, 19 years old from Kahnawake, Que.

Brett LAUGHING, 35 years old from Cornwall, Ontario

Tammy WHITE, 37 years old from Akwesasne, Que. ( St-Regis)

Nordicia STEWART,  19 years old from St. Andrews, Ontario

Amanda INGRAM, 23 years old from Cornwall, Ontario

Marvel DUBEAU, 32 years old from Cornwall, Ontario

The operation saw the arrests of forty-six individuals in all (19 from Cornwall, Ontario, 4 from Akwesasne, Ontario, 3 from Ottawa, Ontario, 1 from Martintown, Ontario, 1 from Frankford, Ontario, 1 from Oshawa, Ontario, 1 from Ohsweken, Ontario, 1 from St. Andrews, Ontario, 5 from Kahnawake, 1 from Maniwaki, Quebec, 1 from Kanasatake, Quebec, 2 from Akwesasne, New York, 5 from Hogansburg, New York, 1 from Rooseveltown, New York) who will be charged for the possession of a tobacco product not properly stamped according to the Excise Act 2001 as well as being charged under authority of the Provincial Tobacco Tax Act.

Items seized included:

• 43 vehicles

• 48,570 assorted resealable bags and cartons each

containing 200 cigarettes seized which  represents 9,714,000 cigarettes

• 2,332.3 kilograms of fine cut tobacco

• 50 cartons of Peach Flavour light cigars

“The Cornwall Detachment follows the principals of intelligence led policing to attack the National Priorities of Organized Crime and Terrorism, and to enhance Border Integrity and security along the shared border.  We also focus our targeting based on criminal threat assessments conducted on forty-two criminal organizations which are believed to be operating within the Cornwall Detachment area,” said Sgt. Michael Harvey of the RCMP.  “These interceptions allow us to gather valuable criminal intelligence to further our investigations”.

A similar High Intensity Enforcement Project was executed in February 2008 during a three week period where Customs and Excise members from the RCMP’s  Northwest region attended Cornwall with the objective of learning, understanding and executing enforcement strategies on the contraband phenomenon.  The February project was a success where over 9.5 million cigarettes and 800 kilograms of fine cut tobacco was seized.