Heavy foot dooms cigarette smugglers

RCMP on the Trans-Canada Highway seized 800 cartons of cigarettes, but it wasn’t the result of any longstanding investigation that led to their bust.

Instead, police admit it was the perpetrators’ heavy foot and the smell of cannabis that alerted them to the situation.

RCMP say on June 11, an officer was traveling west on the Trans-Canada Highway near Dufresne when a vehicle came up from behind driving 130 km/h.

Police pulled the vehicle over and was told by the two occupants inside they were heading back to Winnipeg from Ontario. The officer smelled cannabis and arrested both.

Poor packing was the unfortunate smugglers’ next mistake.

“An officer then opened the passenger door and a bag containing unstamped cigarettes fell out from the side of the door,” police said in a press release. “The officer located other unstamped cigarettes in the same area.”

As they searched the vehicle, they found additional cartons hidden in cooler bags along with a large amount of Canadian currency.

In total 800 cartons of cigarettes were seized with what RCMP say is a street value of $80,000.

The driver, a 62-year-old female from Grand Rapids, and the passenger, a 78-year-old man from Winnipeg, have been charged with possession of contraband tobacco under the Excise Act, possession of contraband tobacco for the purpose of distribution and proceeds of crime under the Criminal Code as well as possession of unstamped tobacco under the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act.

The driver also faces charges for speeding, unlawful transportation of cannabis inside a vehicle, and possession of cannabis that is not packed, labelled and stamped.

They also face the Manitoba triple tax penalty on the seizure totaling $144,000 and the federal tax penalty of $27,200.