Saskatchewan RCMP has charged an Ontario man after seizing approximately 9.1 million illicit cigarettes during a traffic stop in the RM of Battle River earlier this month.
Read more: City hails RCMP after $7.65M illegal cigarette bust
Saskatchewan Highway Patrol officers with the Provincial Protective Services Branch stopped a truck and trailer on Highway 16 at about 12:40 a.m. on Jan. 20. A search of the trailer revealed a large quantity of illicit tobacco, and the lone male occupant of the vehicle was arrested.
Battlefords RCMP, along with the Saskatchewan RCMP’s Yorkton trafficking response team, continued the investigation. Police say officers located 23 pallets of unstamped tobacco during a search of the truck and trailer, containing an estimated 9.1 million cigarettes.
The tobacco products were seized and the driver was taken into RCMP custody.
Investigators determined the driver was subject to court-ordered release conditions stemming from tobacco-related charges laid in Ontario, including a condition prohibiting him from leaving the province.
As a result of the investigation, 41-year-old Harwinder Kahlon of Brampton, Ont., has been charged with selling, offering for sale, transporting or possessing unstamped tobacco for the purpose of sale, possession of unstamped tobacco under the Excise Act, possessing or transporting tobacco not marked in a prescribed manner under the Tobacco Tax Act, and failing to comply with an undertaking condition.
Kahlon appeared in North Battleford provincial court on Jan. 21.
Read more: RCMP seize 9.3 million illegal cigarettes during Highway 16 stop
