CORNWALL, ON, June 16, 2016 /CNW/ - During the early morning hours of June 2nd, 2016, members of the Cornwall Regional Task Force (CRTF) working in partnership with members from Valleyfield RCMP and Sûreté du Quebec observed two boats traveling east on the St. Lawrence River at a high rate of speed. Both vessels were occupied with an unknown number of occupants. The boats landed ashore in the Rivière-Beaudette, Quebec area.
As officers converged to the shoreline area to investigate this illicit activity, they observed that the contraband had been strewn on shore. The vessels, with their occupants, had departed prior to police arrival.
During this investigation, 126 bags of contraband fine cut tobacco weighing a total of 1,948 kilograms were seized. This investigation is still ongoing.
"We often get asked by the public what the value is of these types of contraband seizures," said Cst. Jean Juneau, Media Relations Officer with the CRTF. "The estimated value of this particular seizure surpasses $175,000.00. As you can well imagine, this seizure is a significant loss for whoever organized and paid for the product they never received."
If you have any information regarding this crime or any other criminal activity in your area, please contact your local police service or reach out to an investigator with the CRTF at 1-613-937-2800 or 1-800-387-0020.
The CRTF is a joint forces partnership that includes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, and the Ontario Ministry of Finance. CRTF would like to extend our thanks for the ongoing assistance and cooperation provided by the ''Initiative intégrée de lutte à la contrebande '' including RCMP Valleyfield and Sûreté du Québec members and "C" Division's RCMP Police Dog Service.
SOURCE Cornwall Regional Task Force
Cst. Jean Juneau, Cornwall RTF, 613-937-2800, ext. 258; A/Sgt. Angela Atkinson, Ontario Provincial Police, 613 285 2750
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