Members of the Manitoba Finance Special Investigation Unit and RCMP officers seized 858,800 contraband cigarettes, a vehicle and a trailer on Friday, February 7, 2014.
At approximately 4:30 a.m., Manitoba Finance investigators along with RCMP officers from the “D” Division Traffic Services Roving Unit and the Falcon Lake detachment stopped a vehicle pulling a trailer westbound on PTH 1 near the junction of PR 207.
As the vehicle and trailer were suspected to be transporting contraband cigarettes into Manitoba, they were seized and towed to a safe compound in Winnipeg. The two male occupants of the vehicle were not held in custody.
Search warrants for the vehicle and trailer were obtained by Manitoba Finance and 858,800 cigarettes of mixed brands not marked or stamped for Manitoba tax purposes were located and seized. As a result of finding the contraband tobacco products, the vehicle and trailer are subject to a 30-day impoundment period.
Charges of possession of non-Manitoba marked cigarettes under the Manitoba Tobacco Tax Act and the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act are pending against a 67-year old male and a 32-year old male, both of Fort Alexander.
They each may face fines of $1,000 to $10,000 and/or up to six months in jail, as well as a triple tax penalty of $747,156. Manitoba stood to lose $249,052 in tax revenues should this tobacco have reached the black market.
The individuals may also face charges under the federal Excise Act (2001), as none of the product seized complied with the required federal marking regulations.
If anyone has information on contraband tobacco, they are urged to contact their local police department, the Manitoba Finance Special Investigations Unit at 204-945-1137, email smuggling_manitoba@rcmp-grc.gc.ca or call Manitoba Crime Stoppers (toll-free) at 1 -800- 222 -8477
