Tobacco smugglers are using creative ways to avoid detection by Canadian Border Services Agency officers. RCMP Sgt. Michael Harvey says an increasing number of tobacco smugglers are modifying their vehicles to hide contraband. By removing the side panels and flatbed panels of a pick-up truck, smugglers can hide tobacco in the hollow compartments and then put the panels back in place, he says. Harvey says he’s noticed the rise since July 13, 20 ... Jump to full article >>

CUSTOMS officers and gardai seized a shipment of smuggled cigarettes worth almost €4m after placing surveillance on a lorry. Operation Cleo resulted in the recovery of 10.59m contraband cigarettes, with a street value of €3.78m and a potential loss to the exchequer of €3.38m. The haul was described as a consignment of bedroom furniture and concealed in a Lo/Lo maritime container, which arrived at Dublin Port from Egypt on Friday morning. C ... Jump to full article >>

Two Eastern Shore men were sentenced to probation Monday after pleading guilty in federal court to trafficking thousands of cartons of contraband cigarettes. Senel Cuce, 29, co-owner of the Sunrise Family Market and Pizzeria in Exmore, and his manager, Ali Riza Zulam, were placed on five months of home detention with electronic monitoring. Both immigrated here from Turkey. Zulam, 41, of Poc omoke City, Md., obtained permanent residency and is ma ... Jump to full article >>

About 13 per cent of Canadian high-school students who are daily smokers regularly smoke illegal cigarettes A significant portion of young smokers regularly choose contraband cigarettes, a serious public-health problem that undermines efforts to curb young smoking rates, according to a study published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Young people who smoke contraband cigarettes also smoke significantly more than their peers who ... Jump to full article >>

Canadian politicians and tobacco producers are clamouring for action on the illegal tobacco trade after a U. S. grand jury in the state of Washington indicted two founding partners of a Six Nations cigarette maker accused of taking part in a conspiracy to supply contraband cigarettes. Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett said in weekend interview that he couldn’t speak to the specifics of the case, but he was quick to say enforcement eff ort ... Jump to full article >>