Big tobacco busts

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Quebec provincial police are calling their latest tobacco smuggling bust the biggest on cross border crime between Canada and the United States. A large quantity of that tobacco came through the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie.

Jason Hill is wanted for allegedly being a buyer in a smuggling ring that involved selling contraband tobacco on Six Nations. Quebec provincial police say the Ohsweken man is one of 21 main players of a highly structured criminal organization with links to biker gangs and organized crime that extends to the United States, South America and Europe. Almost 60 people have been arrested in project MYGALE.

The elected council and Six Nations police released a statement saying that “Six Nations of the Grand River was not involved in the searches conducted and that no arrests were made relating to contraband tobacco.”

On September 29th 2015 Canadian border agents seized over 13 000 kilograms of bulk tobacco. Then on March 3rd of this year they confiscated another 13 000 kilograms, both were carried over in commercial transport trucks.

Police say 2 million kilograms of tobacco was bought in North Carolina and illegally imported between August 2014 and March 2016. They say it was for sale on Six Nations and Kahnawake in the Montreal area. Police say that totals $530 million in fraud against the provincial and federal government.

Through project MYGALE police have also seized millions of dollars in Canadian and American money, cocaine, meth, fentanyl and marijuana.