Posted on 06/11/2018 1:50:10 PM PDT by llevrok
Niagara Regional Police Const. Scott Heron has been found guilty of four criminal charges that include conspiracy to smuggle cheese and chicken wings across the border from the United States into Canada.
Heron, 42, had been charged with six counts, three of which related to the Customs Act, and three breach of trust charges that related to his duties as a police officer.
Heron was found guilty on all three of the charges laid under the Customs Act, but only one breach of trust charge.
Justice James Ramsay delivered his decision on Friday following a five-day trial in the Superior Court of Justice in Welland.
The Crown's case depended heavily on the evidence of former NRP Const. Geoff Purdie who lost his job in April 2013 following his conviction in a Buffalo courtroom on a charge of conspiracy to smuggle steroids from the United States into Canada.
Purdie received a sentence of one year in jail, which he served in an American prison. Part of his plea agreement with U.S. officials was that he would testify in court about the cheese smuggling operation.
Court heard how Heron would phone in the cheese orders to a Buffalo pizza supply company, Purdie would pick them up in his truck and drive back across the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie. He was never stopped at the border because in addition to his passport, he would show his warrant card, which identified him as a police officer.
The investigation began in January 2012 and involved Niagara police, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The initial investigation focused on Purdie's cross-border activities and it led to the large-scale cheese and chicken wings smuggling operation.
The judge said he believed Purdie was telling the truth, in spite of his character as a drug smuggler. His evidence was also confirmed by the testimony of other witnesses who testified at trial, along with some of the documents that had been presented, which included phone records and purchase invoices from a Buffalo pizza supply company
Sounds a bit cheesy but okay; I'll bite.
“The last time I went to Canada, I stopped at an A&W. The prices in Canada were quite a bit higher than in the USA.”
yes, but one canadian dollar is worth about 22 percent less than our dollar. might that explain the difference in the prices you saw?
now, if the canadian police officer was buying American cheese with canadian money, wouldn’t it cost him more canadian dollars to buy cheese in the states?
i guess it’s still cheaper to buy stateside to avoid the 270% tariff that canada imposes on American dairy products that makes it a desirable item to smuggle, if you can get away with smuggling it across the border?
so if he went to the states to buy a pizza and took it across the border to canada to eat, would he have to declare it at customs and pay 270% of the original purchase price?
lastly, is American cheese far superior to canadian cheese that a person would find it something they would want to try to smuggle?
No - the US dollar had greater purchasing power, even accounting for the exchange rate.
I had gone to a conference and they had some fruit there - I took an orange for the road. I forgot I had it in the back seat. US Customs questioned us at the border (we had to get out of the car) and I neglected to declare it, but I didn’t get in trouble. As I understand it, US Customs could have seized it.
I haven’t tried going the other way (into Canadian customs)
I wish. I am just good at doing image searches on Google.
Next month, we’re going to smuggle Buffalo wings, Cuba cheese, and Weber’s mustard from NY to TN. Hope we don’t get caught. ;)
One of the busiest Costco's is in Bellingham WA. Canadians come from the Vancouver area on the week ends and load up on eggs, cheese and milk. Even with a tariff when they cross back home, they are still ahead of the game.
He told the cops it was cheddar. They felt it was Swiss as his story had all sorts of holes in it.
SHUT THAT BLOODY BOUZOUKI OFF!
Thanks to Junior Trudeau...Canada is not Canada anymore. Last time I was there...1966...we camped in a gorgeous park on the Lac du Sables. The clean fresh air...the ice cold lake water...the companionable other campers...the Boulanger coming thru every morning with hot French bread and exquisite Napoleons! So sad that it is gone forever.
LOL
Remember the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy smuggled cheese in the musical instruments of Desi’s band on a plane trip home from Cuba? She at first pretended the cloth wrapped cheese was an infant. The woman in the plane seat next to her asked if it was a boy or a girl and Lucy said a boy,I suppose. Asked the name, she said “Cheddar, I mean Chester.”
Great.
Thanks to all the cheese photos, I had to get a slice of smoked/aged cheddar to go with my afternoon Ghirardelli snack!
It was a loophole in hafta. Tradeau closed it without US consent.
lol- no- don’t remember tha one- what a great show that was-
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