From: New Brunswick Canada
FREDERICTON (GNB) – The Contraband Enforcement Unit of the Department of Public Safety, with assistance from the Fredericton Police Force, seized 169,600 illegal cigarettes on May 17 as part of a two-week investigation. A 62 year old man has been arrested and charges are pending.
The contraband tobacco market is estimated to represent a revenue loss to the province of $13 million annually. The provincial tax value of the seized cigarettes is estimated at more than $37,700.
Revenues from the sale of illegal tobacco are often funnelled into organized crime, and manufacturers of illegal tobacco products are neither subject to standards nor inspections.
The Contraband Enforcement Unit became operational in April and is committed to working in partnership with all policing and enforcement agencies.
Anyone with information on the sale and distribution of illegal tobacco is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
