Illegal Tobacco Destined for Winnipeg Business Seized
A Winnipeg business is at the center of an RCMP investigation surrounding an illegal shipment of contraband chewing tobacco from India. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) intercepted a package destined for the two India Spice House locations in the city on December 3 that was mislabeled in order to deceive border officials.
Two search warrants were executed on the businesses and a total of 330 lbs of contraband chewing tobacco was seized.
The shipment — estimated at $25,000 — is believed to have made its way into Canada thru the United States, but originated from India.
A 50-year-old man and his 53-year-old wife from Winnipeg, will be facing a number of charges and will appear in Winnipeg court on March 22, 2010.
Anyone with any information on contraband tobacco products is asked to contact the RCMP Winnipeg Customs and Excise Section at (204) 983-5423 or via e-mail at smuggling_manitoba@rcmp-grc.gc.ca or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-(TIPS) 8477.
RCMP handout photos
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December 14th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Gosh
You know, about half the street people who approach me (usually at least 5 or 6 whenever I walk anywhere downtown) ask me if I’ve “got a light” or if I can “spare a few smokes” (I don’t smoke) instead of asking for spare change. They used to just ask me for money. This is a recent trend that I seem to have noticed in the last few years, and I wonder if it might be somehow related to an increase in the availability of cheaply-sold contraband cigarettes
December 14th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
This is stupid. It’s tobacco! Who cares who’s buying it! It’s a legal product and the government should get their grubby hands off of it and leave these business owners alone. People being killed on the streets of Winnipeg and this is where resources go to, shameful.
Jon Pear (a.k.a. NeuroAster) Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
DID YOU KNOW?: The sale of illegal tobacco products often benefits organized crime networks. The profits are used to finance drug trafficking, buy illegal weapons, and fund other illegal activities. (Source: RCMP website http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ )
December 14th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
“The sale of illegal tobacco products often benefits organized crime networks.”
ONLY because they are illegal. If tobacco wasn’t controlled by the government then there would be no black market and it wouldn’t be an issue.
December 27th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
“DID YOU KNOW?: The sale of illegal tobacco products often benefits organized crime networks. The profits are used to finance drug trafficking, buy illegal weapons, and fund other illegal activities. (Source: RCMP website)”
Pulling info like this from an RCMP PR machine is akin to taking nutritional value statements off of a McDonalds take out wrapper, Jon.
The amount of tobacco that’s there? A husband and wife in their fifties? They likely miss the tobacco they chewed back in India, as do their friends and relatives and other community members living in the city. They are filling a hole in the current market selection.
This is petty and ridiculous.