2 men charged after officers seize 5.4 million unstamped cigarettes in Sask.: RCMP

RCMP say Saskatchewan Highway Patrol officers found millions of illegal cigarettes in a vehicle last week.

On Thursday last week, during a traffic stop on Highway 1 just east of Indian Head, officers saw evidence that a semi was transporting illegal cigarettes, RCMP said in a news release Wednesday.

During thesearch of the vehicle and trailerofficers found 18 pallets,each containing 30 boxes of unstamped tobacco, according to RCMP.

Overall, police said they seized around 5.4 million cigarettes and 1,356 kilograms of shisha tobacco.

Officers arrested two men from Hamilton, Ont., who were in the semi. Theynow face several charges:

• Two counts, selling tobacco and raw leaf tobacco.
• One count, unlawful possession or sale of tobacco products.
• One count, unlawfully import tobacco into Saskatchewan.
• One count, possession or authorize or cause another person to be in possession of unmarked tobacco.

Both men are set to appear in court in Indian Head on Jan. 3, according to RCMP.

"This is a very significant seizure of contraband tobacco the largest I've seen in my career," said Indian Head RCMP Sgt. Ryan Case in the news release.

"The sale of illegal tobacco has many effects on Saskatchewan and its residents. When you buy contraband tobacco, you have no idea how and where it is manufactured."