Sask. Highway Patrol arrest man in record seizure of 8.75M unstamped cigarettes

CBC

10 August 2024 at 12:58 pm·1-min read

A Calgary man is facing charges related to the possession, transport and sale of unstamped tobacco after his semi and trailer was inspected and found to be carrying millions of unstamped cigarettes. (CBC - image credit)

A Saskatchewan Highway Patrol (SHP) investigation led to an agency record seizure of millions of unstamped cigarettes stemming from a truck inspection on Highway 1 near Swift Current.

According to an RCMP news release issued Friday, an SHP weigh station officer inspected the semi and trailer of a 25-year-old man from Calgary on July 17.

The officer found the semi's bill of lading — a legal document summarizing the terms and conditions of a shipping agreement between a carrier and a customer — was false, RCMP said. Officers located about 30 pallets of unstamped tobacco in the trailer, according to the release.

The investigation was passed on to the Saskatchewan RCMP's trafficking response team, which determined the truck was travelling from Ontario to B.C. and carrying about 8.75 million unstamped cigarettes.

SHP says it is the largest tobacco seizure in its history.

"Thanks to an attentive officer and our partnership with the RCMP, we were once again able to prevent organized crime from profiting from illegal activity," said Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Paul Merriman.

"The great work of the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol's weigh scale officers continues to keep our roads safe, protect our infrastructure and remove illicit goods from the market," Merriman said in the RCMP release.

The truck driver is facing three charges related to the transportation, possession and sale of unstamped tobacco products. He was due in court in Swift Current on Aug. 14.

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