Trucker Caught with About $1.8M of Illegal Tobacco
MONTREAL, QC- A truck driver was arrested by the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) after 15,330 kg of tobacco was found in his tractor semi-trailer on August 20.
The CBSA, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Sûreté du Québec stated they thought there was a smuggling risk with the truck when it pulled into the border. They referred the driver and his vehicle to a complete inspection and found the tobacco hidden behind boxes of fresh vegetables.
“This operation is the result of combined efforts with our partners to address the problem of large-scale tobacco smuggling,” said Benoît Chiquette, Regional Director General, CBSA, Quebec Region. “Seizures of this magnitude remove significant quantities of illicit tobacco from the contraband market.”
According to CBSA, one kg of loose tobacco has an estimated value of around $120. That means that a 15,000-kg load is worth about $1.8M on the street.
Historical tobacco busts at Quebec border:
- 300 tonnes of bulk tobacco was seized by the CBSA at its land ports of entry in Quebec since 2010;
- 30,000 kg of tobacco was seized in two busts in 2013;
- 2,375 tobacco seizures amounting to $3,019,150 happened in 2012.
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