Cigarette ring nets cops huge haul (Freep Poll)

ottawa sun.com ^ | April 28, 2006 | JON WILLING

[SheLion]

435 cases of smokes, more than $1.3 million in cash, property seized in raids.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property, cash and contraband cigarettes have been seized as a result of raids this week across Western Quebec and Eastern Ontario.

At a press conference at the Quebec provincial police Gatineau detachment, investigators today provided more detail about Project Bleutte, which was first announced Thursday after raids were conducted throughout the region.

Police said today the raids netted 435 cases of contraband cigarettes and they seized: 37 vehicles allegedly used for smuggling and distribution of the smokes, $600,000 in real estate, about $700,000 in cash and nine firearms.

More than 200 cops with six forces in Quebec and Ontario were involved in the busts, one year after police first received a tip about the scheme. Quebec provincial police spokeswoman Melanie Larouche said 25 suspects have been arrested so far.

Quebec provincial police opened a probe when investigators with the MRC des Collines force asked for assistance looking into a tip. Investigators discovered that cigarettes were being transported from Akwesasne and distributed in Ontario and the Outaouais. The ring is alleged to have brought U.S. cigarettes into Canada through the Cornwall Islands and Akwesasne.

The probe hit its climax yesterday morning when Quebec provincial police were joined in raids by 250 officers with the Gatineau, MRC des Collines, Montreal, Ottawa, OPP and RCMP forces.

The first residences were targeted around 5 a.m. and police continued to work throughout the day.

Forty-five residences in total, including about 10 in the Ottawa area, were part of the investigation.

In addition to a few hundred cases of cigarettes, police have seized about 60 cars and recreational vehicles. Early estimates of the seized property totalled over $1 million.

GATINEAU TARGETED

The Ontario searches focused on residences in Ottawa, Embrun, Vars, Limoges and Hawkesbury, while investigations on the Quebec side targeted Gatineau, Thurso, Lavaltrie, Cantley, Ripon, Buckingham, Masson-Angers, Grenville, Chelsea and Repentigny.

Quebec provincial police and the RCMP have been busy clamping down on contraband cigarettes this year.

Last February, provincial police nabbed 12 Pontiac residents related to possessing and distributing the illegal smokes. RCMP officers in the Cornwall area have also caught people with contraband tobacco from Akwesasne. The last week of February brought a series of seizures around Cornwall, with RCMP officers seizing thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes.

[SheLion]

There is a poll top right side.

[SheLion]

[Red Badger]

Glad to see they're going after the important criminals.........

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

The probe hit its climax.

Then, everybody lit up a smoke.

[AppyPappy]

Note: cigarettes are legal in Canada so this could not have happened.

[Brilliant]

Cigarettes are illegal but marijuana is legal. Marriage is no good for heterosexuals, but fine for gays. Free health care is wonderful, even though you can't get it.




Seems logical.

[Springman]

Ping. Your tax Dollars at work.

[DumpsterDiver]

The probe hit its climax.

Then, everybody lit up a smoke.

LOL.

[RandallFlagg]

I actually had to vote, "No," on that poll. Buying contraband items is against the law.
Growing my own tobacco, however, is not.

[P8riot]

Cigarette ring? Is that anything like a cigar band?

[fanfan]

Thanks for the pings, She Lion and Springman

Freep a poll!

[KDD]

LOL!

[SheLion]

Note: cigarettes are legal in Canada so this could not have happened.

Take it up with the Ottawa Sun.com

Or email the author of the piece.

email

[SheLion]

Thanks for the pings, She Lion and Springman

You bet!

[Flavius Josephus]

$600,000 in real estate. That's quite a haul.

[SheLion]

$600,000 in real estate. That's quite a haul.

I figured there was money in it, but it's on the wrong side of the law. 

[Springman]

Your welcome.

[GMMAC]

Results ... if one can call such limited numbers that ... as of 1:50 EDST:

Would you buy contraband cigarettes to save money?
Yes. 68%
No. 32%
Total Votes for this Question: 1267

BTW & not that anyone asked me but ...
I'll begin taking the whole notion of taxing known "health hazards" seriously once I see similar onerous taxes levied against gay bath houses, etc. and on whatever establishments the morbidly obese frequent.

[metesky]

Running contraband is our heritage up in our neck of the woods.

[conservative in nyc]

Akwesasne? So this cigarette ring has been brought to you by the St. Regis Indian tribe? If that's the case, why doesn't the article mention it?

I think that members of certain Indian tribes get the right to bypass customs checks at the border by treaty. That makes their reservations ripe for smuggling stuff from the U.S. to Canada and vice versa.