A contraband cigarette manufacturing plant found on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, roughly 100 kilometres southwest of Toronto. Ontario Provincial Police handout photo
Ontario police say a recent raid on a contraband cigarette factory on Canada’s largest First Nation reserve led to two arrests, the discovery of 13 foreign workers, and the seizure of over $10 million in illegal tobacco products.
The raid on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, roughly 100 kilometres southwest of Toronto, resulted in the seizure of more than 40,000 kilograms of contraband tobacco, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said in a June 17 release.
The cigarette plant was connected to a “non-indigenous criminal network,” the release said, and staffed by 13 people identified as foreign nationals. Police said the profits generated from the illegal tobacco production were being channelled into the external criminal enterprise.
“This investigation highlights the significant role criminal networks play in the manufacturing and distribution of contraband tobacco in Ontario,” OPP Chief Superintendent Mike Stoddart said in the release.
Raid
The OPP says its Contraband Tobacco Enforcement Team launched an investigation in April after being asked to help the Six Nations Police Service in a separate incident that led investigators to uncover a larger criminal operation.
As a result of the investigation, search warrants were executed on June 11 at a residence in Hamilton, Ont., about 40 kilometres southwest of the Six Nations’ largest community of Ohsweken. A warrant was executed the same day at the suspected illegal cigarette plant on the reserve territory.
