Two pallets of tobacco products are put on display during a RCMP news conference announcing the results of the latest enforcement actions against organized crime groups involved in the trafficking of contraband tobacco in Surrey, B.C., Friday, March 8, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

major bust

Investigation launched in Nanaimo leads to $12M bust of illegal cigarettes in B.C.

Mar 8, 2024 | 2:12 PM

SURREY — Millions in illegal cigarettes, along with precious metals and cash have been seized through the Lower Mainland stemming from an investigation started in the Harbour City.

Mounties with the Federal Serious and Organized Crime unit in Nanaimo began an investigation into the suspected trafficking of illicit tobacco in the fall of 2021.

Their efforts ultimately led to subsequent investigations and police operations through the Maple Ridge, Mission, Cobble Hill, Langley and Abbotsford teams in B.C., as well as in Edmonton.

“The organized crime network involved in this contraband tobacco trafficking operation was also suspected of being linked to cross-border cocaine smuggling, and money laundering activities that had been a subject of joint enforcement actions by RCMP…and FBI in 2020,” an RCMP release noted.

Tens of thousands of contraband cigarettes were seized by Mounties in the Lower Mainland, after a multi-year, multi-jurisdiction investigation was begun by Nanaimo RCMP officers. (BC RCMP)

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Raids in late February at four properties in Mission and Maple Ridge saw 67,500 cartons of cigarettes worth an estimated $12 million, 70 pounds of silver and roughly $100,000 in cash seized by police.

Two people were arrested for “alleged involvement in the trafficking of contraband tobacco”, according to Mounties.

It’s the second sizeable bust of illegal cigarettes in B.C. over recent months.

Roughly $11 million worth of contraband tobacco was seized earlier this year from properties in Langley, Abbotsford, Surrey and Victoria.

Firearms, a “large quantity of ammunition, body armour, drugs and vehicles” were also taken.

Assistant RCMP Commissioner David Teboul said on Friday, March 8, the investigations involved collaboration with tax fraud investigators from the B.C. Ministry of Finance, calling the seizures of 133,000 cartons of cigarettes a “major blow to numerous organized crime groups.”

— with files from The Canadian Press

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