Contraband cigarettes found in car

RCMP members stopped and seized a car containing 87,400 contraband cigarettes on Highway 1A near Middleton, P.E.I., Sunday.
Two men were arrested at the scene and later released with court appearance dates set for Feb. 9. The cigarettes destined for sale in the Charlottetown area, the police said.
Cpl. Stephen MacDonald said the sale of contraband cigarettes is a major problem on Prince Edward Island.

A dozen people will be appearing in a Summerside courtroom this week to answer to contraband tobacco charges, he noted.
"We did a project this summer in Summerside and we've charged 12 people all with bringing cigarettes into P.E.I. So, It's a huge problem."
Police said the selling and buying of contraband cigarettes is illegal and
aids in promoting and fortifying larger crime activities both here in Prince Edward Island and beyond. In addition, the underground activity of these activities undermines the hard work and dedication of Island businesses and being part of these activities is being part of crime.

The sale of contraband cigarettes also cuts into of tax revenues.
"These are the taxes that don't go into healthcare to pay for the people who have been smoking all of their lives," MacDonald said.
MacDonald said the illegal cigarettes come from reserves near Cornwall, Ont., and Montreal.
"A lot of the time they're manufactured on the New York side of the border and they bring them over the river either by boat of in the wintertime by snowmobiles," he said. "Now they're being manufactured on the Canadian side, too. They have their own cigarette making machines, they bag them, box them up and then people go on the reserve and buy them."
The public is encouraged to call police with information regarding the sale and transport of illegal cigarettes into P.E.I. Anyone believing they have encountered illegal cigarettes or have information regarding the distribution.